Turkey’s foreign minister described as “unfortunate” on Friday comments by the head of USA national intelligence suggesting that purges in the Turkish military after a failed coup were harming cooperation in the fight against Islamic State.
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Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the US state of Pennsylvania since 1999, again maintained his innocence during an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, saying he had himself suffered from previous coups in Turkey.
Almost 16,000 people have been detained over alleged links to the uprising. Erdogan says Gulen, an ally-turned-arch-foe, harnessed his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and overseas over decades, to create a secretive “parallel state” that aimed to take over the country.
Ninety-nine colonels have been promoted to generals and admirals, although Chief of staff General Hulusi Akar – who was held hostage during the coup attempt – stayed in his post along with the heads of the navy, land and air forces.
He said Defense Secretary Ash Carter received assurances from his Turkish counterpart that the fight against Islamic State militants won’t be affected. “This is something to be very, very concerned about”, said the general, while Clapper added: “Many of our interlocutors have been purged or arrested”.
“There’s no question this is going to set back and make more hard cooperation with the Turks”, Clapper said. They are among 42 for whom detention orders were issued Monday, while authorities are searching for those still at large, the state-run Anadolu agency said.
Votel said while normal operations have resumed at Incirlik, he is anxious about “longer-term” impacts from the failed coup on counter-terrorism operations.
Nikola Poposki, a US citizen of Macedonian origin who showed interest in the protest as he passed by, told Anadolu Agency that he supported the democratically elected government in Turkey. Erdogan said the US was taking sides with coup plotters.
Gulen, whose Hizmet (Service) movement stresses the need to embrace scientific progress and inter-faith dialogue, said he still strongly backed Ankara’s bid to join the European Union, saying this would buttress democracy and human rights in Turkey.
Meanwhile the probe into coup plotters shifted focus to the financing of Gulen’s activities in Turkey, with what appeared to be the first major arrests targeting the business world. But U.S. officials have criticized Turkey’s slow pace in sealing its border with Syria to foreign fighters.
Erdogan has accused the US of harboring the coup’s alleged mastermind, Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania.
Following a shake-up of the military on Thursday after almost half of its 358 generals were sacked, the top brass of the reshuffled armed forces met Erdogan at his presidential palace in Ankara.
There were 290 people killed in the coup, and thousands have been detained.
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Obama considers Erdogan “a close ally”, the spokesman said.
