Those remarks triggered an angry response Friday from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the target of the coup plot, who lashed out during a speech in Ankara at what he said was meddling from the United States.
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However, Erdogan stepped up his attacks against countries who have criticised his crackdown in the wake of the failed coup, telling them to “mind their own business”.
He earlier blasted US Gen Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command, saying he was “on the side of the coup plotters”.
“So I’m concerned about what the impact is on those relationships as we continue to move forward”, Votel said during the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday a “national military university” will instead be founded as part of a vast shake-up of the country’s military.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford have made clear previously, Cook said, that any suggestion anyone in the department supported the coup in any way would be absurd.
According to the latest figures by Interior Minister Efkan Ala, over 9,000 people, mostly military, have been put under arrest in the aftermath of the failed coup, which caused the deaths of over 200 people. The government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with his offices regulations, said the revocations were a precaution against the flight risk of possible terror suspects.
Long-standing partners in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and officially fighting side-by-side against the self-proclaimed Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the U.S. and Turkey have endured severe strains in recent months that were aggravated by the foiled coup in mid-July. The facility was bombed and fired upon during the attempted coup, and 47 police officers were killed.
The number of public sector workers removed from their posts since the coup attempt now stands at more than 66,000, including some 43,000 people in education, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.
Erdogan has said that Gulen harnessed his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses, built up in Turkey and overseas over decades, to create a “parallel state” that aimed to take over the country.
Ankara-A Turkish parliamentary delegation is expected to visit Washington soon for talks with members of Congress and civil society on Turkey’s failed July 15 coup.
Speaking at an event in Ankara yesterday he announced he was dropping hundreds of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him, in what he described as a gesture of goodwill.
The probe into coup plotters widened its scope to the financing of Gulen’s activities in Turkey, with what appeared to be the first major arrests targeting the business world.
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Demirtas echoed other critics who point to Erdogan’s previous alliance with Gulen, with whom he once shared compatible Islamist visions for Turkey. Erdogan said. “Keep that to yourself”.
