The botched coup bid marked the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s rule in 13 years as prime minister and now president.
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“The secretary reiterated U.S. support for the democratically elected government in Turkey, for the rule of law and for the need for authorities to take all necessary precautions to safeguard civilian life and property as they respond to this attempted coup”, a State Department statement said.
Mr Erdogan has accused a US-based Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen of being behind the plot, which Mr Gulen denies. “However, I said very directly once again that this was an attempt by Gulen, who is residing in their country, and his structure within the military”, Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview in Ankara.
The violence shocked the nation of nearly 80 million, once seen as a model Muslim democracy, where living standards have risen steadily for more than a decade and where the army last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago. They could be sympathisers of the nationalist party.
In a statement by the U.S. State Department on Saturday, Sec.
He said he wouldn’t have returned to Turkey even if the coup had succeeded, fearing he would be “persecuted and harassed”.
“I am here, away from the political troubles in Turkey and I live with my freedom”.
Given the chance to deliver a message directly to the Turkish leader, Gulen demurred. “I have prayed to God to lead us to the straight path, to the virtuous path”.
On Sunday, however, it appears Erdogan’s popularity online increased. “Deliver this man who lives in Pennsylvania to Turkey”, said Erdogan. It is a majority-Muslim country in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and a key partner in efforts to solve worldwide challenges, including terrorism and mass migration, as well as being an important interlocutor with regional powers such as Iran and Russian Federation.
“We know many people in the military dissatisfied and were strongly opposed to President Erdogan, feeling he had become a virtual dictator and he had also purged a number of top people in the military”.
“Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force”, he said. “The US is behind the coup attempt. As a believer, I can not make false accusations”.
By Sunday evening, authorities had rounded up almost 3,000 suspected military plotters, ranging from top commanders to foot soldiers, and the same number of judges and prosecutors after forces loyal to Erdogan crushed the attempted coup on Saturday.
At least 194 people were killed, more than 1,000 injured and more than 1,500 military personnel arrested across Turkey when a battle between loyalist forces and coup supporters erupted in the capital of Ankara and other areas. “Deliver him to Turkey”.
In an operation early Sunday, at the garrison in the western town of Denizli, its commander Ozhan Ozbakir was detained along with 51 other soldiers, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.
Ten members of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors and two members of the Constitutional Court have already been detained, officials said.
Gulen preaches what many consider a moderate form of Islam. And he has regularly and stridently condemned jihadist terror attacks -much more so than Erdogan, say the president’s critics – and typically advocates interfaith dialogue.
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During the coup attempt, Erdogan claimed, the rebelling soldiers received orders from Pennsylvania, referring to Gulen’s residence in the US.
