The violent attempted overthrow by elements of Turkey’s military, which fired on unarmed civilians, left more than 230 people dead.
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In a dispute between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies, Turkey demands that the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based Turkish cleric, to face charges of engineering a coup attempt. Ankara has demanded Gulen’s extradition, but Washington is asking for evidence of the cleric’s involvement and says the extradition process must be allowed to run its course.
Gulen was once an Erdogan ally until ties soured several years ago.
In a sign of efforts to shore up relations, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, visited Turkey and met with his Turkish counterpart Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was briefly held captive by the rebels during the coup, as well as with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
While in Turkey, Dunford will see US personnel stationed at Incirlik Air Base and meet his Turkish counterpart as well as the prime minister.
“If we show pity to these murderers, to these coup plotters, we will end up in a pitiful state”, he said.
With the government implementing a relentless crackdown in the wake of the coup, Erdogan vowed the harshest consequences for anyone who even supported Gulen.
The complaint, which has to be accepted by prosecutors before any action is taken, came days after Erdogan told Votel to “know your place” after he expressed concern that the post-coup crackdown may affect the fight against Islamic State militants.
Additionally, while US courts won’t assess concerns about the fair treatment of suspects in a country requesting extradition, the issue could still arise because extradition is “ultimately a political decision” by the United States, he said. A message from Erdogan was read out instead. Germany is home to roughly 3 million people with Turkish roots.
“Bravo! The courts in Germany work very fast!” “This is a clear double standard”.
This particular headline, however, did not go down well with the Turkish government, and on July 20th, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give an explanation.
Erdogan had stronger words Tuesday as the two countries’ relationships frayed further.
Turkey is in the grips of an unprecedented purge of its government and society, which has seen tens of thousands of soldiers, lawyers, journalists, academics and others with alleged links to Gulen’s organization arrested, detained or suspended from their jobs. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.
“There will be more if necessary”, he said in an interview with CNN Turk television. Nearly half of Turkey’s generals were fired in the wake of the coup.
One of the biggest negotiations on the table is visa-free travel between Turkey and the European Union.
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The script for the July 15 putsch was “written outside”, Erdogan said in a speech on Tuesday in Ankara.
