Turkish officials were also to meet the top USA military commander in the first direct talks since a failed coup on July 15, with Washington under pressure from Ankara to extradite the alleged mastermind, Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.The coup aimed to unseat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has since launched a sweeping nationwide purge of suspected Gulen supporters, dismissing tens of thousands from their jobs and detaining nearly 19 000 people.
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The Turkish Football Federation said the action was taken as a “necessity” without saying whether those dismissed were suspected of links to USA -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the country’s July 15 failed coup.
“Unfortunately, the West is supporting terror and standing by the coup plotters”, said Erdogan in a typically combative speech at his presidential palace, denouncing “those who we imagined to be friends”. “Bravo! The courts in Germany work very fast!” Erdogan said with heavy irony.
He accused Germany in the past of allowing leaders from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of addressing events in Germany via video conference.
In Germany, home to Turkey’s largest diaspora, tens of thousands of Erdogan supporters rallied in Cologne on Sunday to demonstrate their opposition to the coup in an event held under tight security. “The actors inside acted out a scenario for a coup written from the outside”. “(We wrote) that we have intelligence that he can escape to third countries”, Bozdag said.
Turkey hasn’t been sold on this so far, primarily because during the multi-hour coup United States officials expressed comparative ambivalence about the unfolding events, and only really made statements criticizing the effort after it became clear it was going to fail.
Erdogan also rounded on the European Union, saying it had “not yet lived up to its promises” in a deal on reducing the flow of migrants to Europe.
Police searched the Gulhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) hospital in the capital and detained some 50 staff including military doctors, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, quoting police sources.
A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed detention warrants had been issued for 98 staff.
Condemning the failed coup in Turkey, Dunford, the principal military adviser to the American president, said his visit was to show solidarity and added that the USA was fully supportive of the Turkish democracy, a statement from Yildirim’s office on the meeting said.
Similar claims have also been made about military schools where officials say exams were rigged.
The coup attempt shocked Turkey, which last saw a violent military power grab in 1980, and shook worldwide confidence in the stability of the country.
This is believed to be the first time a medical establishment has been targeted in the clampdown, which has also hit journalists and academics.
Turkey’s soccer federation says it has sacked 94 members of the association, including a number of referees.
The letter hailed the “courageous and determined resistance” of the Turkish nation which helped defeat the July 15 coup attempt by “a group of Fetullah Gulen terrorists in the Turkish Armed Forces, disguised in military uniform”.
A statement from Yildirim’s office said during talks, the Turkish prime minister told Dunford that his country wanted the U.S.to display its stance against the coup in a “clear and determined” way and renewed Turkey’s expectation that Gulen and US -based members of his movement be extradited to Turkey soon.
Erdogan snapped at the Italian authorities over an investigation into his eldest son Bilal, who was studying in Bologna, on suspicion of involvement in money laundering.
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Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced plans Tuesday to shut down two military high courts the administrative and appeals courts and said military courts, which deal with disciplinary issues, would be placed under the Defense Ministry’s supervision.
