In particular, Votel suggested the USA had lost crucial Turkish military interlocutors who are now in jail and accused of being behind the coup – a concern echoed by the U.S. head of National Intelligence James Clapper. “I am concerned that it will impact the level of cooperation and collaboration that we have with Turkey, which has been excellent, frankly”.
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Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Cavusoglu said the purge of those suspected of being involved in the coup is rendering the Turkish army more efficient.
Mr Erdogan’s chief adviser then followed up with an assessment that the coup was triggered by Turkey’s warming relations with the Kremlin: “Without doubt”, Cemil Ertem wrote in the Milliyet newspaper, Turkish efforts to resolve regional conflicts and fix relations with Russian Federation triggered the coup attempt.
President Recep Erdogan has responded to the apparent coup attempt by clamping down on alleged dissidents since the failed bid to oust him from power rocked the country. “You can never convince my people otherwise”.
“It is not possible for them to remain in this country’s institutions, those who rained bombs purchased with taxes on my pristine people”, he added.
“You reveal yourself with your remarks”.
Clapper had already upset Erdogan after asserting last week, in response to a columnist’s question, that Erdogan’s allegations against Gulen didn’t pass the “smell test” of credibility.
Turkey’s cooperation in the fight against Islamic State is of paramount importance to Washington. Turkey’s foreign minister alleged on Wednesday that some prosecutors and judges who are part of Gulen’s movement are now in Germany.
Cook said that while US and Turkish officials “talk every day”, he could not say whether or not any senior USA defense or military officials had reached out to Erdogan Friday to specifically discuss or refute the latest accusations.
Steinmeier said bringing back the death penalty would be “a major step backward” for Turkey.
He said the post-coup attempt measures being carried out in the country’s institutions such as the parliament, National Security Council, council of ministers and other ministries were in line with the law.
“The Akinci Airbase in Ankara, centre for the heinous coup plot, will be closed”.
Hundreds of soldiers armed with fighter jets, helicopters and tanks took control of key areas of the capital while Mr Erdogan was on holiday, but were defeated after the president flew into Istanbul to make a defiant speech against an “act of treason and rebellion”. More than 66,000 people in the wider civil service have been suspended from their jobs.
The post-coup witch-hunt he has instituted has resulted in the closing of universities, charities, schools, hospitals, and union offices across the country.
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“They were not only engaged in journalistic activity, they were engaged in activities that included the fabrication of evidence that served (the Gulen movement)”, he said.
