Turkey accuses US -based cleric Fethullah Gulen of staging the attempted putsch, harnessing his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses built up in Turkey and overseas over decades to create a “parallel structure” in state institutions.
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Turkey has cancelled the work permits of 27,424 people working in the education sector as part of its investigations into the movement of the US-based cleric it blames for a failed military coup, Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said on Thursday.
“I say if we are strategic partners then you should bring about our request”, he said.
He reiterated the call for Washington to extradite the Pennsylvania-based preacher Fetullah Gulen in the wake of the coup attempt that left 240 people dead and almost 2,200 injured.
Turkish soldiers detain one of the missing military personnel suspected of being involved in the coup attempt, in Marmaris, Turkey.
“Sooner or later the United States of America will make a choice”.
A total of 160 members of the military wanted in connection with the July 15 failed coup are still at large, including nine generals, officials have said.
Asked about reports that a Turkish military official based in the United States was seeking asylum there, Cavusoglu said Turkey had asked for information from Washington but had not yet received a response.
He was addressing crowds that had gathered for the final of the daily rallies that have been staged across the country to denounce the attempted overthrow.
About a possible reinstatement of the death penalty in Turkey for those involved in the defeated coup, Erdogan reiterated his stance that the decision would be left up to Turkish lawmakers in the parliament. He has also brushed aside warnings from the West to exercise restraint and to respect human and democratic rights as he executes a broad crackdown that has netted thousands of people.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Erdogan’s call was directed at businesses that had provided financial support to the group.
Business owners in Berlin, the populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the southwestern Baden-Württemberg told Die Zeit that they had been yelled at on the streets and called traitors to the homeland and terrorists. They engaged in extortion.
According to CBC News, foreign affairs analyst Tony Brenton said that the West should not be surprised with the steps taken by the two countries as worldwide relations remain to be “a pretty pragmatic business”.
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Russian Federation must be ruthless towards terrorist organizations in Syria, said Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in his interview with NTV channel.
