Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a new presidential decree Sunday that introduced sweeping changes to Turkey’s military in the wake of a July 15 failed coup, bringing the armed forces further under civilian authority.
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A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said gunfire was exchanged during the operation and that three suspects were still on the run.
Turkey on Monday slammed a German court decision that prevented President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a demonstration in Germany denouncing Turkey’s failed July 15 coup, and summoned a German diplomat in protest. The soldiers raided his hotel in an attempt to capture or kill the president but are believed to have missed him by an hour or less.
Erdogan – who says a group within the military acted on the orders of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen – has also said he will bring the country’s spy agency and military chief of staff directly under his control. Gulen, who heads an worldwide network of schools, charities and businesses, denies any knowledge of or participation in the coup.
Four much smaller counter-protests are also planned, including one by a right-wing German group.
The decision sparked anger in Turkey, with presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin calling the ban unacceptable and a “violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly”.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister is to summon Germany’s ambassador to Ankara on Monday after restrictions were placed on a rally in support of Turkey’s President in Cologne at the weekend.
After a manhunt involving around 1,000 members of the security forces, the 11 were captured – dressed in camouflage and trying to cross a stream – after a tip-off from a man who spotted them as he was hunting wild boar, the Dogan agency said.
European officials and human rights groups have expressed increasing concern with the Turkish crackdown, in which almost 70,000 people have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in sectors including the civil service, education, the judiciary, health care and the media.
There are about 3 million ethnic Turks living in Germany, Turkey’s largest diaspora community.
Turkey’s crackdown after the failed coup has made European leaders even more uneasy about their dependence on the country to help stem illegal migration, in return for which Turks have been promised visa-free travel to the European Union.
Waving the Turkish flag and chanting “Turkey”, the demonstrators turned the rally site next to the River Rhine into a sea of red as they began the demonstration by singing the Turkish and German national anthems.
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“If there is anything I told anyone about this verbally, if there is any phone conversation, if one-tenth of this accusation (against me) is correct…”
