The Norfolk mission where the Turkish officer was assigned is the only NATO command in North America, according to its website. “We have no right to show pity toward those who showed no mercy to their country or people”.
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A total of 160 members of the military wanted in connection with the July 15 failed coup are still at large, including nine generals, officials have said.
“Turkey’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership is not in question”, spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement issued in response to “speculative press reports”. More than 76,000 people with suspected links to Gulen have also been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.
He also warned if the West “loses” Turkey it would be because of its own mistakes, not Ankara’s improving ties with Russia, China or the Middle East.
The president’s remarks came as he addressed a mass crowd in front of the Presidential Palace in the capital – one location attacked on the night of the coup attempt.
Addressing a mass crowd in front of the Presidential Palace in Ankara, President Erdogan said USA needs to choose either Gulen or Turkey. Gulen has denied any involvement.
During that rally, he said he would sign a reintroduction of the death penalty into law if it was approved by parliament.
At the same time, Turkey’s post-coup purge has been roundly criticized internationally, which makes returning him unconditionally a risky move.
Erdogan has sharply criticized the United States and the European Union for not doing more to show support in the aftermath of the abortive putsch.
Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told reporters in Ankara it was normal for Turkey to seek “other options” on defense cooperation as it had not received the expected support from its western friends and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies following the failed coup.
Business owners in Berlin, the populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the southwestern Baden-Württemberg told Die Zeit that they had been yelled at on the streets and called traitors to the homeland and terrorists.
Kalin said Erdogan’s call was meant to ensure that the business world “was put on alert” against Gulen’s movement.
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“Such an organization [FETO] can only collapse with confessions”, Yilmaz said.
