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Turkey aims to prevent military from staging another coup -Deputy PM

The 11 soldiers were located Sunday and Monday in a forest near the southwestern resort of Marmari, where President Reccep Erdogan was on holiday at the time.

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Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic told the audience that both the AK Party and the opposition had united against the coup attempt.

According to official reports the president’s security team was tipped off that a squad of soldiers was heading to his hotel and moved him.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz denied the claims, saying the US was one of the first countries to condemn the failed coup.

Ratcheting up its clampdown on the military, Ankara on Sunday dismissed almost 1,400 military personnel, including a top aide to Erdogan, and confirmed it would close military schools and academies. So far, more than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and schools have been either detained, suspended or placed under investigation over suspected links with Mr Gulen.

The package would need to be brought to parliament for a vote.

The German Embassy’s charge d’affaires was due at the ministry on Monday to discuss the issue, an official said, as the attempted coup continued to strain Turkey’s relations with allies.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Friday the main air base in capital Ankara and other key military installations in Istanbul would also be shut down. Turkey has demanded the US extradite the 75-year-old Gulen and sent documents on his alleged involvement in the failed coup to USA officials.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stacked a top military council with more government ministers among other tough measures against the country’s military establishment in the wake of a July 15 failed coup.

Germany’s highest court rejected a bid Saturday night to reverse local judges’ ruling that a screen at the event couldn’t be used to show addresses from outside speakers – a decision that Turkey says prevented an address by Erdogan.

In the German city of Cologne Sunday, an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people attended the rally to denounce the abortive coup and show support for Erdogan.

Germany is home to roughly 3 million people with Turkish roots.

“We are curious about the real reason why the German authorities and the constitutional court banned President Erdogan’s message and hope that the German authorities will provide a satisfactory explanation”.

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Turkey will have to back out of the agreement if the European Union does not deliver visa liberalisation as promised, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as telling Germany’s daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Turkish army soldiers take part in a parade in the northern part of Nicosia the capital of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus