Further, Erdogan pointed out that no foreign leader had visited Turkey since the incident, but other countries such as France and Belgium received support when they came under extremist attacks. Turkey has demanded his extradition, but Washington has asked for evidence of the cleric’s involvement.
Advertisement
Turkey has conducted a sweeping crackdown on those suspected of supporting Gulen’s movement, which runs schools, charities and businesses across the world.
He angrily denounced the judicial authorities in Germany for not allowing him to address via video conference a rally in Cologne at the weekend in his support. The government says the coup effort was ordered by USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen and has begun purges of state institutions to rid them of alleged followers. German courts are working so fast.
Turkey had also canceled this year’s August 30 Victory Day military parades because of the “extraordinary situation”, the minister said.
“The cleaning up of members of the Fethullah Gulen terrorist network from the state, armed forces and police will bring dynamism and the government will speed up reforms”, Elvan said.
European officials and human rights groups have expressed increasing concern with the Turkish crackdown, in which almost 70,000 people have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in sectors including the civil service, education, the judiciary, health care and the media.
“The restructuring of intelligence units is on the agenda, just like it was for the Armed Forces”, Kurtulmus told the news conference.
Several countries and rights organizations have expressed concern over the scope of the crackdown, and have urged restraint.
The tensions have been rising since the coup, with the Erdogan government responding to criticisms about the purge with accusations of involvement. Those we considered friends are siding with coup-plotters and terrorists..
On Tuesday, the Turkish Football federation said it had sacked 94 people, including a number of referees.
Advertisement
Seperately, authorities issued 98 new detention warrants, including for military doctors, a senior government official said, on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. In Turkey, there was little market disruption with the coup attempt falling on Friday July 15, and markets opening as they usually do the following Monday.
