Turkey launched a major overhaul of Nato’s second-biggest military after the abortive coup, in which Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan narrowly escaped capture and possible death.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday described as “unfortunate” comments by US officials suggesting that purges in the Turkish military after a failed coup were damaging cooperation in the fight against Islamic State (IS).
“We have certainly had relationships with a lot of Turkish leaders – military leaders in particular”, said Votel, the former head of U.S. Special Operations Command and one of the most respected officers in uniform.
“Any country and any leader who does not worry about the life of Turkish people and our democracy as much as they worry about the fate of puschists are not our friends”, Erdogan said while addressing the Martyrs’ Memorial Day ceremony held at the presidential complex in Ankara to commemorate victims of the failed coup.
Turkey has demanded the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania whom it accuses of being behind the violent July 15 coup attempt that left 290 people dead.
Relations between the two countries have also been strained by the situation at NATO’s Incirlik air base in Turkey, which stores U.S. tactical nuclear weapons and is being used by Washington in its campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
“Turkey has been an extraordinary and vital partner in the region for many years”.
The meeting of the Supreme Military Council (YAS), lasting more than five hours, brought together Prime Minister Binali Yildirim with top military figures untarnished by the coup. “We appreciate Turkey’s continuing cooperation and look forward to our future partnership in the counter-ISIL fight'”. “I have instructions from my government to follow up this matter and we will be very happy to obtain the support of Nigerian legislators on that issue”, he said.
Twenty-one journalists are appearing in court in Istanbul after being detained as part of a sweeping crackdown following Turkey’s failed military coup.
People with Turkish flags gather at the 15 July martyrs square in Ankara, Turkey, on Friday, July 29, 2016. They say they are anxious.
“You are taking the side of coup plotters instead of thanking this state for defeating the coup attempt”.
The cull included 149 generals and admirals, which would represent roughly 40pc of all top-level Turkish military staff.
Nearly 16,000 people have been detained so far in the nationwide crackdown, the magnitude of which has caused global alarm.
There has been a purge of the civil service, military, judiciary and education sectors, and the closure of hundreds of schools and dozens of media outlets.
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The US has been accused of being behind Turkey’s previous coups.
