Turkey: Erdogan to meet Putin Aug. 9 in Russia

The newspaper said: “Over $2 billion were distributed during the process leading to the coup”.

People stage a demonstration in support of Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Gostivar, Macedonia on July 26, 2016.

At least 270 people were killed on both sides. Turkish officials have accused Gulen, who has lived in the USA state of Pennsylvania since 1999, of orchestrating the failed military coup and are demanding that Washington extradite him.

Russian Federation and Turkey may form an alliance of “two developing economies with an ideology of sovereign values as a union of the deceived against the West”, Alexander Baunov, a senior associate at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said in e-mailed comments.

Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, who is Erdogan’s son-in-law, said Turkish authorities had been planning a major purge of the military and other institutions to remove Gulen-linked elements ahead of the coup attempt.

“They were going to take really important steps to remove Gulenist officers and generals from the armed forces”.

The attempted military coup brought together all political parties in Turkey, said Deputy Chairman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Cevdet Yilmaz, TRT Haber news channel reported July 26.

Those who have been purged are accused of ties to the movement led by USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen, although their direct links to the coup attempt are not clear.

Suspects include former executives of the newspaper as well as certain columnists, police said.

But “prominent employees of Zaman are likely to have intimate knowledge of the Gulen network and as such could benefit the investigation”, the official explained.

Earlier this week, warrants were issued against 42 other journalists, of whom 16 have been detained for questioning.

With 143 generals and more than 3,000 soldiers arrested on suspicion of coup links, there are gaping holes in the command structure which will have to be filled.

Following tensions between Ankara and Washington, DC, Turkey and Russia have been taking steps to improve trade and economic relations, which were badly damaged after Turkey downed a Russian plane near the Syrian border. Please see our terms of service for more information.