At a time when the Turkish government is detaining many thousands of officials suspecting their involvement in the failed coup, former Air Force chief of Turkey has confessed his role in plotting the conspiracy that attempted to overthrow the government, state-run Anadolu Agency said today.
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The rapporteur will prepare a report, which will be submitted to the Constitutional Court’s General Assembly.
Turkey accuses USA -based Fetullah Gulen and his so-called parallel state of being behind the coup and has called for his extradition to Turkey to face trial.
But from his home in Pennsylvania, Gulen has responded that it was Erdogan himself who staged the coup as a pretext for consolidating his already- autocratic powers.
Days after the attempt was made against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish government stepped up its crackdown on the alleged supporters of the conspiracy by removing almost 9,000 security officials. According to the Turkish media, 43 soldiers have already been arrested.
The planned purge in the military comes after a few years of political war between Erdogan and Gulen within government institutions.
Turkish main newspaper Hurriyet published a statement by Ozturk through people close to him where he rejected the accusations against him.
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Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Monday that a total of 208 people, including 145 civilians, were killed by the soldiers of the coup attempt and some 1,491 others were also wounded.
