The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has condemned last months coup attempt in Turkey during a visit to Ankara.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff has condemned last months coup attempt in Turkey during a visit to Ankara.
After visiting the city’s heavily bomb damaged parliament building, General Joseph Dunford met with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, and said in a statement that Turkey’s democracy has the full support of the US.
Not all were pleased Dunford’s arrival, however, and dozens of demonstrators took to the streets to protest the general’s presence.
Some in Turkey believe that the US is embroiled in a conspiracy with Fethullah Gülen – who is believed by many to be the mastermind behind the putsch attempt – to overthrow the Turkish regime.
#Turkey: Protests held in #Ankara against #US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford. pic.twitter.com/YEwWBX7Lh7
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) August 1, 2016
One protester said that the US and Gülen are the “architects of the coup” and that America wants to divide Turkey.
There are loud calls for the muslim cleric and political figure Fethullah Gülen to be extradited to Turkey from the US.
He founded the Gülen movement, which has regularly butted heads with the Erdogan regime has widely been blamed for the recent putsch attempt.
General Dunford is the most senior US official to visit Turkey since the failed coup.