Two more soldiers involved in a kidnap or assassination plot last month against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were captured, Turkish officials said.
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The violent attempted overthrow by elements of Turkey’s military, which fired on unarmed civilians, left more than 230 people dead. Turkey’s Western allies, too, are voicing concern.
They have accused Western leaders of being more concerned about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member. In Turkey, almost 70,000 people have been suspended from their jobs on suspicion of being involved in the movement.
Turkey has demanded the speedy extradition of Gulen from the United States, but Washington has asked for evidence he was involved in the attempted coup and says the U.S. extradition process must be allowed to take its course.
“We do not want (the US) to be in a position that will make us question our friendship”, Yildirim said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a top-ranking USA general that his government remained committed to principles of law in its fight against coup plotters and called for Washington to extradite US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen “as soon as possible”.
Gulen, who has lived in the United States since 1999, has condemned the coup attempt and denied involvement in it.
“We would like to see America take some serious steps” against Gulen and, while mulling Turkey’s extradition request, “put him in custody or prevent his activities” on USA soil, Kamil Aydin, a lawmaker from the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, told VOA on Monday. Full use of the base is vital and when power to it was cut after the failed coup, both US diplomats and military officials made repeated appeals to the Turks to restore the electricity.
In Washington, Turkish lawmakers from the ruling party and the two largest opposition parties visited the U.S. Justice Department on Monday, the first stop on a weeklong trip in which they will try to persuade U.S. officials to support Gulen’s extradition.
Dunford said he was visiting Turkey to show support. There have been reports of torture of alleged coup plotters in jail.
And on Sunday a German court banned Erdogan from addressing his supporters by video link at a rally in Cologne, amid fears that the crowds could become agitated. Berlin’s foreign ministry spokesman acknowledged relations were going through a “bumpy patch”. “Drones and helicopters were used to pinpoint the location”.
Erdogan insisted Tuesday that Turkey had a policy of “zero tolerance toward torture” and accused the London-based rights advocacy group of ignoring violence committed by the coup plotters during the July 15 attempt. The demonstrators waved Turkish flags and chanted “Traitors!” Many convictions have been overturned. He said he had narrowly escaped an attempt on his life.
Hicks said the USA general would also reaffirm “the importance of our enduring partnership for regional security”, citing operations out of the Incirlik air base against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, and Turkey’s contributions to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Defence Minister Fikri Isik said expulsions from the army were not over.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s minister for foreign affairs, told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Monday that his country might pull out of a deal to take back Syrian migrants if visa-free travel in Europe was not introduced by October.
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The 11 soldiers suspected of attempting to kidnap Erdogan were found in Sirinkoy Village in the Ula District of Mugla province in Turkey’s southwestern Anatolia region. It also announces the discharge of 1,389 military personnel, including Erdogan’s chief military aide.
