But despite the rising tensions in recent days, the Turkish president said Ankara must continue its solidarity with America – and insisted the issue of Mr Gulen’s extradition needs to be separated from the Pentagon’s use of Incirlik airbase in the fight against Islamic State.
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Commenting on the matter, Con Coughlin of the Telegraph suggested that Erdogan’s actions may give North Atlantic Treaty Organisation no choice but to expel Turkey from the bloc.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said Erdogan ordered the overnight patrol by F-16s “for the control of the airspace and security” after a faction within the military launched the attempted coup late Friday. Meanwhile, Ankara suspended annual leave for more than three million civil servants.
Erdogan said the aim was “to be able to take the necessary steps in the most effective and quickest manner to remove the threat directed against our country’s democracy, its state of law and our citizens’ rights and freedoms”.
Coughlin called attention to the fact that Turkey has become especially unpopular with European NATO members due to its controversial role in the EU refugee crisis.
The coup has led to public anger and calls for the government to reinstate the death penalty, a demand that Erdogan has said he will consider.
Over 230 people were killed during the failed coup attempt.
In Greece, a court sentenced eight Turkish military personnel who fled there aboard a helicopter during the coup attempt to two months in prison for entering the country illegally. “They might have different plans for the next period”, the president said.
“Unfortunately like a cancer, this virus has enveloped the state”. Anadolu reported the group includes former Air Force commander General Akin Ozturk, who has been described as the ringleader of the foiled uprising. They were arrested and have sought political asylum. But that does not mean he should be sent back to Turkey for a show trial and perhaps an execution.
Turkish indignation over Gulen’s residence in the United States was voiced Monday by Egemen Bagis, a Turkish politician and longtime adviser for Erdogan, in a telephone interview from Turkey and a subsequent email.
Erdogan is the leader, whether we like it or not, of a country that is important to us in our efforts to tamp down the chaos in the Middle East. We should not be in the position of rejecting all of his requests/demands, particularly when one of them is rational. “People need to understand that this country has witnessed a coup and there are going to be consequences”. Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004 under reforms aimed at obtaining European Union membership. But the criticism could also apply to other elites, including secularist circles that once controlled Turkey with military support.
But US officials have been rattled by the extent of Turkey’s response to the failed coup and say the relationship will now depend on how Erdogan pursues Gulen and how far the crackdown extends. On Saturday, Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Washington of being behind the coup attempt.
“We would be disappointed if our [American] friends told us to present proof even though members of the assassin organization are trying to destroy an elected government under the directions of that person”, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Monday, referring to Mr. Kerry’s request for evidence of Mr. Gulen’s involvement in the coup plot. Washington says it is prepared to extradite him but only if Turkey provides evidence linking him to crime.
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Earlier, Turkey’s Justice Ministry said earlier it had sent a dossier to the United States on Gulen, but did not make clear whether that amounted to an official extradition request. “It will strengthen and protect democratic values and rule of law”. “I don’t believe this government will pay attention to anything that is not legally sound”, he said. Tens of thousands of people have been fired or suspended so far. At least 300 people died in the brief but ferocious fighting, which saw soldiers use live ammunition on pro-government protesters and the parliament building in Ankara bombed from the air.
