Turmoil in Turkey’s armed forces raises questions about its ability to contain the Islamic State threat in neighbouring Syria and the renewed Kurdish insurgency in its southeast, military analysts say. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus authorities made a decision to list PDY/FETÖ as a terrorist organization.
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Bozdag said Gulen’s extradition was an urgent matter, not least because he said Turkey was receiving intelligence that the 75-year-old cleric might flee, possibly to Australia, Mexico, Canada, South Africa or Egypt. Egypt said it had not received an asylum request.
“Instead of thanking this nation that quashed the coup in the name of democracy, on the contrary you are taking sides with the coup plotters”, Erdogan said, adding, “Besides, the coup plotter is in your country anyway”.
It accuses him of being behind the coup attempt, something he denies.
“The putschist is already in your country”, Erdogan said.
Turkey declared a state of emergency following the failed coup that caused 290 deaths.
Votel, noting some limitations on U.S. operations in Incirlik Air Base said the electricity problem at the base in southern Turkish city of Adana has been resolved. “And so I’m concerned about what the impact is on those relationships as we continue to move forward”, Votel said at the Aspen Security Forum.
“It’s not up to you to make that decision”.
“Even people who know this group well were surprised by the scale and violence of the event. You can never convince my people otherwise”.
Twenty-one journalists are appearing in court in Istanbul after being detained as part of a sweeping crackdown following Turkey’s failed military coup.
“When we weed out these bad apples… then our army is more trustworthy, more dynamic, cleaner and more effective”, Cavusoglu said. He also said he saw “positive change” in the attitude of the United States towards Ankara’s request to extradite the cleric to Turkey.
More than 66,000 public sector workers have been dismissed from their posts and 50,000 passports cancelled, while the labour ministry is investigating 1,300 of its staff. The state has also shut 142 media outlets and detained several journalists.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had said that the difficulty for US planes accessing Incirlik might have been a result of planes flown in support of the coup using the airbase to refuel.
The United States and the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, have both urged Ankara to show restraint in its crackdown on suspected Gulen supporters and to ensure those arrested have a fair trial. Of those, more than 3,500 have since been released, a senior government official said. The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his office’s regulations, said the revocations were a precaution against the flight risk of possible terror suspects.
On Wednesday, the military dishonourably discharged 1,684 of its personnel, a Turkish government official said, citing their role in the failed coup.
“That surprised me greatly”, Winfried Kretschmann told the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Germany’s foreign minister said it was good that the coup had been foiled “but now the reactions are getting far out of proportion”.
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Held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the meeting’s venue was – in the wake of the July 15 failed coup – changed for the first time from General Staff headquarters to the prime minister’s residence at the Cankaya Palace.
