Top Turkish civilian and military officials agreed late Thursday that chief of staff Hulusi Akar and the commanders of the land, air and naval forces, all of whom remained loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will retain their posts, as will the commander of the army division who made it possible for Erdgoan to return to Istanbul.
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“The attitude of many countries and their officials over the coup attempt in Turkey is shameful in the name of democracy”, Erdogan told hundreds of supporters at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital.
Turkey has begun overhauling its armed forces following a failed coup, but its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally the United States complained that the purges of generals and officers were hindering cooperation in the fight against Islamic State. “We appreciate Turkey’s continuing cooperation and look forward to our future partnership in the counter-ISIL fight'”. The U.S. launches airstrikes, surveillance aircraft and other missions out of Turkey’s Incirlik air base. He said that the last time Defense Secretary Ashton Carter spoke with Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Isik was on July 19.
Western governments and human rights groups, while condemning the abortive coup in which at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured, have expressed concern over the extent of the crackdown, suggesting President Erdogan may be using it to stifle dissent and tighten his grip on power.
Turkey’s military is already stretched, given the violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast, and threats from Islamic State attacks on its border with Syria.
He said life in Turkey had returned to normal after the July 15 coup attempt was crushed.
“When tens of thousands of civil servants, teachers and judges are dismissed, thousands of schools and education facilities shut and dozens of journalists arrested without any direct connection with the coup being discernible, we can not simply stay silent”, Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted as saying Friday in the Ruhr Nachrichten paper.
Asked why his once-warm ties with Erdogan and Turkey’s ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party had turned sour, Gulen said: “It appears that after staying in power for too long, (they) are suffering from power poisoning”.
The Pentagon publicly disavowed involvement in this month’s attempted coup in Turkey during a press conference Friday.
Meanwhile, the purge continued on Friday as officials confirmed that that almost 50,000 people, almost all state officials, have had their official passports suspended.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is dropping all lawsuits against those charged with insulting him. “Instead of thanking this government for thwarting this coup attempt, and for democracy, you are standing by the putschists”, Erdogan said of the U.S.
Erdogan has blamed Gulen for masterminding the attempted coup and has called on Washington to extradite him.
Among those, more than 20 court reporters were detained, it reported.
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Following the coup, Turkey declared a state of emergency.
