Turkey’s president on Friday slammed the United States for not standing firmly against a failed military coup and accused it of harboring the man he says was the plot’s mastermind, as a government crackdown in the coup’s aftermath strained Turkey’s ties with key allies.
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Its clampdown seeks to target anyone suspected of ties to US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the government accuses of masterminding the plot.
Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, denies involvement and says the coup may have been orchestrated by Erdogan himself to justify a crackdown, a suggestion the president has roundly condemned.
Mr Erdogan lashed out at an American military official who he said commented on the detention of thousands of military personnel.
“It is not up to you to make that decision”.
“Of course, when a coup attempt like this takes place in a country, it is right and important to take action against the rebels with all the means and potential of the constitutional state”, she said.
European Union enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said he needed to see “black-and-white facts about how these people are treated”. “This is a known fact”, Erdogan said.
The director of USA national intelligence, James Clapper, said on Thursday the purges were harming the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq by sweeping away Turkish officers who had worked closely with the United States. “Look at your own deeds”, Erdogan said in a speech at his presidential palace.
Cook said that while USA and Turkish officials “talk every day”, he could not say whether or not any senior US defense or military officials had reached out to Erdogan Friday to specifically discuss or refute the latest accusations.
On Friday, Erdogan once again slammed the USA for harboring Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, and demanded his extradition.
He made clear that the main “putschist” to him was Gulen.
Ankara wants Washington to extradite Gulen, once a close ally of Erdogan and now an arch foe, to Turkey. Turkish Interior Minister Efkana Ala recently announced that more than 15,000 people have been detained since the failed coup.
On Thursday, Turkish media sources reported quoting Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, that 88 employees had been laid off from his department.
Turkish Defence Minister Fikri Isik told broadcaster NTV on Friday that the shake-up in the military was not yet over, adding that military academies would now be a target of “cleansing”.
Along with the arrests of many journalists, more than 130 media outlets, including newspapers, magazines and television stations, have been closed.
The Turkish government said Friday that Washington has it backwards when it suggests ongoing purges of the military is harming military cooperation against “Islamic State” (“IS”). Of those, more than 3,500 have since been released, a senior government official said.
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Turkey has discharged at least 1,684 service members from the Armed Forces for their role in the failed coup when a faction of the military tried to overthrow the elected government on July 15.
