ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey’s top military commander, who was held hostage during an attempted coup, kept his post Thursday, while the general who served as acting chief of staff was promoted following a purge in the military following the failed putsch.
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Erdogan at a speech Friday criticized Gen. Joseph Votel, the top US commander for the Middle East, who noted that some Turkish military leaders whom the USA had relationships with have been jailed in the wake of the attempted coup.
Embroidered images of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) are pictured at a market in Gaziantep, Turkey, January 17, 2014.
In addition to the military purge and media shutdowns, at least one journalist was taken into custody and arrest warrants were issued for almost 50 former members of the editorial staff of the country’s largest daily, Zaman. “There’s no question this is going to set back and make more hard cooperation with the Turks”.
Asked whether Turkish military figures whom the United States has worked with are in detention, Votel said: “Yes, I think some of them are in jail”.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said the move to close down media outlets had the US concerned.
“We’ve certainly had relationships with a lot of Turkish leaders, military leaders in particular”.
The military council meeting had been scheduled for early August but was brought forward following the coup attempt. “The operations carried out by prosecutors and security officials during the Dec. 17 process can be taken as a good example of this”, the document says, referring to a high profile corruption probe that targeted senior government officials between December 17 and December 25 of 2013, as reported by the Turkish Hurriyet daily.
“We’ve made clear that we understand the Turkish government has a right and a responsibility, quite frankly, to their citizens to get to the bottom of this”.
The US generally tries to avoid criticizing Turkey, which has the second-largest military in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and is a crucial ally in the fight against ISIS.
Turkey is removing potential supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen from state institutions.
Since the coup, tens of thousands of people – including police, judges and teachers – have been suspended or placed under investigation.
“I’ve said to President Erdogan to remind him that he came into office with a promise of democracy”, Obama said during a press conference at the end of the Nuclear Security Summit in April.
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Cavusoglu meanwhile said he expected more from the European Union, which while condemning the coup has expressed alarm over the subsequent crackdown.
