Turkey has accused the West of supporting terrorism and backing the failed coup to overthrow the government.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people excluding the coup plotters and over 2,000 people were wounded. Turkey’s Western allies, too, are voicing concern.
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.
General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, met Turkish chief of staff General Hulusi Akar, after a visit to Incirlik air base – used by coalition planes for air raids on the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria. The government had summoned the German ambassador in Ankara on Monday.
In all of the meetings, Dunford said, he also heard about the need for the United States to send Fethullah Gulen – a former imam who is self-exiled in Pennsylvania – back to Turkey.
It has repeatedly claimed that overwhelming evidence exists linking Gulen to the coup attempt on July 15, including confessions and retrieved written communications by high-ranking military officials involved in the coup that they were acting on Gulen’s orders. Washington, however, insists that Turkey must verify its allegations.
He criticised foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who had said Turkey must respect democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
According to the gazette, 1,389 military personnel were dismissed for suspected links to the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkey of orchestrating the failed putsch. The remark was a reference to Washington’s refusal to act on Ankara’s extradition request for Gulen.
“Through their messages, through their hidden communications, Turkish intelligence actually captured many (pieces of) evidence” that directly implicate Gulen, he said. Berlin’s foreign ministry spokesman acknowledged relations were going through a “bumpy patch”.
Economic indicators point to a recovery following the coup attempt, while the central banks foreign-exchange reserves have increase above $125 billion, Erdogan said.
“We tolerated them because they said “Allah”, he added.
They were part of a group that attacked a hotel where Erdogan was holidaying on the night of the July 15 coup. The demonstrators waved Turkish flags and chanted “Traitors!”
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With almost 20,000 people detained and arrests continuing, there is rising concern the crackdown in Turkey after the July 15 failed coup is expanding to government critics and opponents, especially in the media.
