A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that “there are indications of direct involvement” in the Friday, July 15, 2016, coup attempt of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.
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Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the coup attempt in Turkey, has a wide following in his native country, where he enjoys support among the police and judiciary.
“We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment”, Erdogan warned on Twitter on Saturday.
“The President and Secretary agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed”, the White House said in a statement. He shares concern over Erdogan’s authoritarian turn and will discuss Turkey’s role as an ally in Syria, in facing off with Russian Federation and as gatekeeper on a migrant route to Europe. “My position on democracy is really clear”. He was previously an ally of Erdogan before their relationship soured. Erdogan chafes at US support for Syrian Kurdish rebels, who have close ties to Kurdish guerrillas fighting in Turkey. The United States uses the airbase to launch airstrikes on ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
“The United States will not protect a person who attempted such an event against Turkey”, he said.
The ramifications of the coup attempt on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and USA partner in the fight against ISIS remain unclear. The U.S. government has said it would consider any formal request.
European commissioner Guenther Oettinger, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who brokered the migration deal, said further human rights curbs would leave Erdogan internationally isolated: “We will”, he said, “Continue our cooperation in strict accordance with the rule of law and with our values”.
While condemning the coup bid, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said the plotters had to be dealt with “under the rule of law”.
“The democratic order in Turkey must be respected”.
The Latest on Turkey’s failed military coup. Ankara recalled its ambassador and threatened unspecified retaliation. Concern about what comes next after all that happened on Friday.
Hizmet – meaning service in Turkish – advocates a mix of Sufi mysticism and harmony among people based on the teachings of Islam. “Unity and prudence are imperative”, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on his Twitter account.
Fethullah Gulen told reporters at his Pennsylvania compound he knows only a “minute fraction” of his legions of sympathizers in Turkey, so he can not speak to their “potential involvement” in the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. There were similar celebrations in other government-held cities.
A Turkish presidency official in Istanbul said the move was temporary and aimed at preventing rogue aircraft from targeting civilians and government buildings. “I am calling on America here, I am calling on Mr President (Obama)”, he told the crowd.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the perpetrators of Friday’s failed coup “will receive every punishment they deserve”.
Turkey closed the three border crossings with Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said, reiterating its appeal to Bulgarians to avoid traveling to its southern neighbor.
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The president’s critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey’s secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism – but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.
