Turkey is seeking the extradition of 32 diplomats who went on the run after they were recalled by Ankara as part of investigations into last month’s failed coup attempt, the foreign minister said today. The strained relationship also follows Erdogan’s accusation that Fethullah Gulen, a US -based Muslim cleric, coordinated the coup.
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Meanwhile, there was no letup in the embattled northern Syrian city of Aleppo, where Turkey and Russian Federation are supporting opposing sides of the conflict and where residents and activists reported a chlorine gas attack.
It was Erdogan’s first foreign trip since last month’s failed military coup, which left Turkey’s relationship with the United States and Europe badly damaged.
The historian stressed that after yesterday’s meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, relations between Russian Federation and Turkey will not only return to the previous level, but will get even stronger.
Turkish authorities also detained a nephew of Fethullah Gulen, the US -based Muslim cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the attempted coup. “These were high-ranking staff members”.
Two civil servants based in Bangladesh, meanwhile, are understood to have travelled to NY.
An Istanbul court ordered August 4 to arrest Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the military coup attempt in Turkey. But the odor grew stronger as they descended the stairs, so they returned to the higher floors to wait out the effects, he said, speaking to The Associated Press via a messaging service. PARALLEL STATEErdogan accuses Gulen of staging the attempted putsch, harnessing his extensive network of schools, charities and businesses built up in Turkey and overseas over decades to create a “parallel structure”. “In a case like this, not to extradite him, of course, would mean to prefer Fethullah Gulen’s friendship over Turkey’s friendship”.
Syrian activists say at least 20 civilians have been killed in airstrikes on Raqqa, the de facto capital to the Islamic State group in northern Syria.
Erdogan took the opportunity to thank Putin for his support following the coup attempt, and heralded the meeting as the start of a “very different period” in Russian-Turkish relations.
Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said: “We will discuss all the details”.
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The United States and Russian Federation are responsible for overseeing a U.N. resolution from late 2013 to dismantle the Syrian government’s chemical weapons arsenal. Erdogan won’t withdraw from North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, and he isn’t likely to cut ties with the U.S. But he will improve relations with Russian Federation and China where he can-if only to show he can make Western critics sweat. Ankara prosecutors also ordered on Thursday the detention of 648 judges and prosecutors suspended a day earlier, Hurriyet newspaper and broadcasters said.
