Earlier, Turkey admitted there may have been some “unfair” treatment in its post-coup crackdown as it voiced anger at Germany for barring President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a rally in Cologne. “The actors inside acted out a scenario for a coup written from the outside”, Erdogan said in a speech at his presidential palace.
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Erdogan said, once more blasted unnamed Western countries which he says supported an attempted coup on July 15 which left more than 270 people dead.
Turkey’s president has accused the West of supporting and aiding terrorism and said the coup in his country was organised by foreign powers (US, Saudis, UAE).
The Turkish government, and Erdogan in particular, have been angered by what they say is a delay in the extradition of Gulen from the USA, and the issue has strained relations between the two North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.
Ankara, which claimed that USA-based Fethullah Gulen was the mastermind of the coup, has been urging the US, Turkey’s strategic partner, to extradite him from his home in Pennsylvania.
Erdogan complained about the USA request: “We did not request documents for terrorists that you wanted returned”.
“There must definitely be some among them who were subjected to unfair procedures”, he said in comments published by state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkish officials have added the extradition request is “urgent”, because they fear Gulen might flee to a third country that would be even less willing to hand him over unconditionally.
“We would like to see America take some serious steps” against Gulen and, while mulling Turkey’s extradition request, “put him in custody or prevent his activities” on USA soil, Kamil Aydin, a lawmaker from the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party, told VOA on Monday.
“We don’t only have National Intelligence Service [MIT]”. He said the ruling government has been in power for 14 years and he was elected president with 52 percent support of the country. About 18,000 people have been detained or arrested, majority from the military, while authorities have said the purge of those suspected of links to Gulen in the military will continue. “The armed forces will focus their energies on their fundamental duty”.
During the same interview, Erdogan also attacked the European Union, and Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in particular, questioning whether the West was on the side of the putschists or democracy.
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Its leader Devlet Bahceli said the changes risked turning Turkey’s army into a force like that of former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein or former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. “Had (the coup) been successful, there would have been no constitution, no law, our parliament would have been shut and the political will eradicated”.
