Two Turkish military attaches in Greece are missing after being called back to Ankara as part of investigations into last month’s failed military coup, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday.
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Ankara is ready to discuss the possibility of a joint operation with Russian Federation in Syria against the Islamic State, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told NTV television news channel on Thursday.
He warned that legal action will be taken against those who fail to return.
Gen. Mustafa Zeki Uğurlu, a high-ranking Turkish military officer on a US -based assignment for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, was also seeking asylum in the United States after being recalled by the government. Ankara is already pressing Washington to extradite US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses of orchestrating the coup. Gulen has denied any knowledge or involvement in the coup that left more than 270 dead but Turkey wants him extradited to face trial.
“Let’s fight against the terrorist group together, so that we can clear it out as soon as possible”, the minister said, warning that if unchecked the group continue to expand and spread into other countries.
Earlier, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said navy Rear Adm. Mustafa Ugurlu, who was working at a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation base in the United States, had gone missing.
Turkish Navy Rear Admiral Mustafa Ugurlu, who was working at NATO’s Allied Command Transformation headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia is reported to have turned in his identification papers and disappeared on July 22. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those killed, and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured”, National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
He repeated, however, Turkey’s demand that the US extradite Gulen. “We have always proposed consolidating our efforts in fight against Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra (also banned in Russia) not only to Americans, but to all others, in the region and outside it”, Bogdanov added. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it could not discuss individual cases due to privacy concerns. The eight are seeking political asylum.
The official said that 5,685 people remain in detention, waiting to see a judge.
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“The issue of an amnesty is not on our agenda or on our minds”, said Hayati Yazici, the deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party.
