Turkish authorities have detained at least 10 foreign nationals suspected of ties to a US-based cleric whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the July 15 failed coup, a senior official said on Monday.
At least four of them had been formally arrested pending trial while a fifth person had been released, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.
One of the suspects was detained on Saturday after entering Turkey illegally from Syria, he said, adding that at least one wanted foreign national was on the run.
MORE ARRESTS?
He did not provide details on their nationalities, but said the number of foreigners detained could increase as the investigation deepens.
The Turkish government launched a sweeping crackdown targeting followers of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of being behind the coup attempt by renegade soldiers within the military. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, has denied involvement.
Nearly 18,000 people have been detained or arrested in the crackdown, mostly from the military. Tens of thousands of people have been suspended or dismissed from jobs in the judiciary, media, education, healthcare, military and local government.
On Sunday, Turkey held a mass rally in Istanbul to denounce the attempted coup, which two main opposition party leaders attended in a show of unity.
Kurtulmus, citing police figures, said as many as 5 million people had attended the rally, which he described as a strong expression by the Turkish people of their demand that Gulen be returned to Turkey to face trial. Turkey is also pressing for the extradition of other US-based Gulen supporters.
“I have no doubt that US officials will review their stance” on Gulen, Kurtulmus said. “Either they will continue to protect three or five bandits, or they will act in a way that will allow them to win the hearts of a nation of 79 million people.”
SABOTAGE
Kurtulmus said the government does not believe Gulen’s movement would be capable of staging another military coup, but did not rule out possible acts of sabotage by his followers, including cyberattacks.
Turkey is taking measures to counter any possible threat, he added.
“I can confidently say that there is no longer a threat of [another] coup,” Kurtulmus said. “But this organization will continue ... to take action to harm Turkey.”
He reiterated that 216 military personnel — including nine generals — suspected of taking part in the coup were at large. Of the fugitives, 180 of them were army personnel, while 30 were paramilitary police.
He would not confirm Turkish media reports claiming that some of the officers might have found refuge with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, dismissing the reports as “speculation.”
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not