Erdogan says Turkey's coup script was 'written abroad'
Reuters
Ankara, TurkeyUpdated: Aug 02, 2016, 04:33 PM IST
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the audience during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey. Photograph:(Reuters)
President Tayyip Erdogan accused the West of supporting terrorism and standing by coups on Tuesday, questioning Turkey's relationship with the United States and saying the "script" for an abortive putsch last month was "written abroad".
In a combative speech at his palace in Ankara, Erdogan said charter schools in the United States were the main source of income for the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he says masterminded the bloody July 15 putsch.
"I'm calling on the United States: what kind of strategic partners are we, that you can still host someone whose extradition I have asked for?" Erdogan said in a speech to local representatives of multinational firms operating in Turkey.
"This coup attempt has actors inside Turkey, but its script was written outside. Unfortunately, the West is supporting terrorism and stands by coup plotters," he said in comments which were met with applause and broadcast live.
The 75-year-old Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement in the failed coup. President Barack Obama has said Washington will only extradite him if Turkey provides evidence of wrongdoing.
The fallout from the abortive coup, in which more than 230 people were killed as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in a bid to seize power, has deepened a rift between Ankara and its Western allies.
Erdogan and many Turks have been frustrated by US and European criticism of a crackdown in the wake of the putsch, accusing the West of greater concern about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a NATO member state.
More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is pursuing an indiscriminate crackdown on all forms of dissent and using the situation to tighten his grip on power.
"If we have mercy on those who carried out this coup attempt, we will be the ones to be pitied," he said.
The leader of the main secularist opposition CHP, which has condemned the coup and been supportive of the government's reaction so far, said a state of emergency declared in its aftermath now risked being used to make sweeping changes to the security forces without appropriate parliamentary support.
"There is no doubt that the law on emergency rule was issued in line with the constitution. But there is concern that its application is being used to exceed the goal," Kemal Kilicdaroglu told a meeting of the CHP.
"It may be necessary to restructure the state, undoubtedly, but this subject must go before parliament."
(Reuters)
In a combative speech at his palace in Ankara, Erdogan said charter schools in the United States were the main source of income for the network of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who he says masterminded the bloody July 15 putsch.
"I'm calling on the United States: what kind of strategic partners are we, that you can still host someone whose extradition I have asked for?" Erdogan said in a speech to local representatives of multinational firms operating in Turkey.
"This coup attempt has actors inside Turkey, but its script was written outside. Unfortunately, the West is supporting terrorism and stands by coup plotters," he said in comments which were met with applause and broadcast live.
The 75-year-old Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, denies any involvement in the failed coup. President Barack Obama has said Washington will only extradite him if Turkey provides evidence of wrongdoing.
The fallout from the abortive coup, in which more than 230 people were killed as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in a bid to seize power, has deepened a rift between Ankara and its Western allies.
Erdogan and many Turks have been frustrated by US and European criticism of a crackdown in the wake of the putsch, accusing the West of greater concern about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a NATO member state.
More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is pursuing an indiscriminate crackdown on all forms of dissent and using the situation to tighten his grip on power.
"If we have mercy on those who carried out this coup attempt, we will be the ones to be pitied," he said.
The leader of the main secularist opposition CHP, which has condemned the coup and been supportive of the government's reaction so far, said a state of emergency declared in its aftermath now risked being used to make sweeping changes to the security forces without appropriate parliamentary support.
"There is no doubt that the law on emergency rule was issued in line with the constitution. But there is concern that its application is being used to exceed the goal," Kemal Kilicdaroglu told a meeting of the CHP.
"It may be necessary to restructure the state, undoubtedly, but this subject must go before parliament."
(Reuters)