Meanwhile, Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member and a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, has seen a wave of terrorist attacks that have crippled one if its biggest industries: tourism.
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“This country suffered a lot in the hands of the Gulen Movement”, Erdogan told throngs of supporters near his home in Istanbul.
In the United States, this academic empire includes Harmony Public Schools, the largest charter school network in Texas. “If we are strategic partners or model partners, do what is necessary”.
A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey’s southern neighbour Syria into civil war.
Whoever was responsible, the uprising is the latest worrying example of deteriorating stability in a country once promoted to the wider Muslim world as a model of democratic governance and economic prosperity.
Political turmoil has engulfed Turkey for months.
The Turkish leader’s audience chanted, demanding “the execution of Fethullah”.
Thousands of military officers have been arrested, including the commander of Turkey’s 2nd Army, Gen. Adem Huduti.
For now, American airstrike missions from the base have been halted. He said Turkey would resume operations with the U.S.-led coalition once the anti-coup operations were completed.
The Incirlik air base near Adana in the southeast of the country was running on internal power sources after a loss of commercial power to the base, the Pentagon said.
Nobody associated with the USA schools has been charged with wrongdoing.
A prolonged closure of Incirlik’s airspace could force the United States to divert aircraft based in the Persian Gulf to the Manbij and Raqqa offensives, constraining the air power available to support Iraqi and US forces involved in operations against Daesh. Defense department personnel in the area were “safe and secure”, he said.
He was a professor of computer science and was shot according to Turkish media.
Erdogan, a religious conservative, has compared Gulen and his supporters to a virus and a medieval cult of assassins.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised that, those behind the coup “will pay a heavy price for this act of treason”, with Ankara now considering the return of the death penalty.
At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law. The anchor said the military imposed martial law.
The United States, emphasizing the importance of its alliance with Turkey’s current leadership, expressed support for the democratically elected government as the violence unfolded.
But the coup attempt lost momentum after Erdogan returned from vacation at the seaside resort of Marmaris. Ilhan Varank died during clashes that lasted five hours.
However, officials in Brussels don’t rule out that the failed coup may still have a negative effect on its relations with Ankara and affect the long-lasting talks on Turkey eventually becoming an European Union member.
“The judicial process on this will continue”, NTV reported Bozdag as saying. An opposition deputy told Reuters that parliament was hit three times and people had been wounded.
The official described Ozturk as “one of the masterminds” behind the plan. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a tweet requested “the immediate surrender of eight heinous soldiers”.
Government forces arrested 2,839 accused coup supporters, Yildirim said.
The asylum request “will be examined based on the provisions of Greek and global law”, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said.
Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey.
In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers hid in shelters inside the parliament building, which was sacked on by tanks. Promotional videos show him meeting with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican in the 1990s.
Hundreds of soldiers were held in Ankara for alleged involvement in the coup, leaving police stations overflowing.
They walked away from tanks and abandoned their posts on the Bosphorus Bridge connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
Flag carrier Turkish Airlines resumed flights on Saturday, though some foreign carriers cancelled weekend flights.
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The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Turkey’s democracy must be respected, according to the Kyodo news agency.
