The director of US National Intelligence, James Clapper, said on Thursday the purges were harming the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq by sweeping away Turkish officers who had worked closely with the United States.
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In a speech at his presidential palace late Friday remembering those killed during the failed coup, Erdogan angrily denounced the criticism and accused the West of deserting Turkey in its hour of need.
The president’s critics say Erdogan, who narrowly escaped capture and possible death on the night of the coup, is using the mass purges to crack down indiscriminately on dissent and to tighten his grip on the nation of almost 80 million.
Gulen denies any involvement in the attempted putsch.
Erdogan at a speech Friday criticized Gen. Joseph Votel, the top USA commander for the Middle East, who noted that some Turkish military leaders whom the US had relationships with have been jailed in the wake of the attempted coup. “We work together on a number of the president’s worldwide priorities” including the fight against the Islamic State, he added. Erdogan, who is now Turkeys president, called it a judicial coup attempt, while accusing Gulen and his movement of orchestrating it with the help of some foreign forces..
“Those countries that do not worry about Turkey’s future are not our friends”, he said. Turkey has issued dishonorable discharges to nearly 1,700 military personnel, including about 40 percent of its top officers.
The investigation affected many officials linked to the Turkish Cabinet, which was headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan at that time. Votel said the coup’s aftermath “will have an impact on the operations that we do”. Earlier in July, Erdogan issued a public apology – a key Russian condition for improving relations.
The president said that until now 18,699 people had been detained in the post-coup crackdown, with 10,137 of them placed under arrest.
Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.
A senior United States military commander had been quoted by American media as saying that the turmoil in post-coup Turkey could affect its role in the US-led coalition fighting IS jihadists in Syria.
Turkey’s military is already stretched, given the violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast, and threats from Islamic State attacks on its border with Syria.
Separately, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey would shut down an air base in the outskirts of Ankara that the coup plotters used as their headquarters. “Who are you? Know your place”, he said, and hinted the United States could be behind the failed plot.
Over the past two weeks, two properties belonging to the organizations affiliated with the Gulen movement in the cities of Apeldoorn and Deventer in central areas of the Netherlands were reportedly set ablaze by Erdogan’s supporters.
Several hundred flag-waving protesters staged a peaceful protest march near the Incirlik base on Thursday, chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) and “Damn the USA”, the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper reported. “It’s not right to arrest journalists – this country should not make the same mistakes again”, he said, quoted by the Dogan news agency. Saniye Calkin said supporters in neighbouring Germany were reporting similar incidents. Akar told him the situation is “stressful” but he was “positive”, and Akar underscored Turkey’s commitment as a “solid ally” to NATO, Scaparrotti said, adding that he intends to visit Akar as soon as he can.
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Erdogan, who has accused Gulen of running a “parallel state” seeking to seize power in Turkey through undemocratic means, has since led a purge on the police force and judiciary, demoting officials deemed loyal to Gulen.
