Kerry, who spoke about Gulen during a visit to Luxembourg, said that no extradition request had yet been received. “I never believed in a power higher than the power of the people”.
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Describing the attempted coup as a “black stain” on Turkey’s democracy, Yildirim said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.
Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu on Saturday that public claims suggesting the United States was involved in the failed coup in Turkey were harmful to relations between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
Furthermore, Erdogan had fallen out of favor among Western leaders in recent months after repeated crackdowns on journalists, legal maneuvering to outlaw dissenters, forging a constitutional amendment revoking legislative immunity for opposition lawmakers, and seizure of almost full control of the country’s executive and legislative powers with the tacit consent of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
Gulen said democracy can not be achieved through military action.
“The people have taken to the streets and voiced their support for democracy”, he said.
Qatar Airways said on Saturday afternoon that its flights to Istanbul had resumed, but service to Ankara remained discontinued.
Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan light up a flare during a pro-government demonstration on Taksim square in Istanbul July 16, 2016.
“Stability, democracy & safety of Turkish people are paramount”. TV footage showed large groups of unarmed civilians blocking the way of tanks and other military vehicles.
Analyst company Oxford Economics has predicted that Turkey’s dwindling tourism sector will shrink by 5 per cent this year and 5.4 per cent next year.
Erdogan and officials from his government have, both directly and indirectly, pointed fingers at Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric and a dissident of Erdogan’s regime who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, for being behind the coup attempt.
“I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation”.
Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey as either prime minister or president since 2003, has won several elections, most recently in 2014. Gulen and Erdogan only became estranged in recent years. But he’s had a fraught relationship with the powerful military, which has carried out multiple coups over the past half-century.
However, shortly after coup rumors began, a Turkish state television broadcaster read a statement saying members of the military had taken over the country and that the military was giving the orders.
“They [Gulen supporters] were like a tumor within the military, and now this tumor is being removed”, he added.
Sporadic gunfire was still being reported in some areas by morning.
Warplanes and helicopters roared over the capital Ankara.
The coup raised a host of critical questions at a time when Turkey is engaged in turmoil at home and with neighboring countries. And Turkey’s security forces have been involved in fighting with Kurdish separatists in the southeast.
Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s labor minister, went further than Erdogan, suggesting the US was behind the coup.
In the worldwide arena, Erdogan recently sought to patch up disputes with Israel and Russian Federation, and to lend stronger support to USA -led efforts against the Islamic State group after being accused of tolerating the flow of foreign extremists and weapons from Turkey into Syria.
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According to figures for May, visitors from Russia were down by 92 per cent. Russia has been the country’s second-biggest source market for tourists, but relations between the countries were chilled after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the border with Syria on November 24. The U.S. military said its operations at the air base were not affected. We will update this post with further information as we have it.
