ANKARA: Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said that the failure of the coup attempt has shown Turkish people’s determination to fight for democracy.
Speaking at a press conference outside of Çankaya Palace with the Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ and Interior Minister Efkan Ala beside him, Yıldırım said the defeat of Friday’s coup was a “feast of our democracy”.
Yıldırım said that a total of 161 people have been killed, 1440 people have been wounded during the failed attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government.
“It is very sad to announce that we’ve lost our 161 citizens in the Friday night’s coup attempt,” he said adding, 2,839 pro-coup soldiers have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the coup attempt.
He also sent his condolences to the relatives who lost their lives during the coup.
The prime minister underscored that Fethullah Gülen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. is the leader of the Gülenist Terror Organization.
”Whichever country is behind them is not a friend of Turkey and in a serious war against Turkey,..” he said.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Interior Ministry said in a statement that 1,563 military personnel were arrested across Turkey on Saturday and a number of officers were suspended from duty, including five generals and 29 colonels.
Turkish military helicopter lands in Greece, 8 request asylum
A Turkish military helicopter carrying eight ‘putschists’ landed in Greece on Saturday, Greek police said.
According to details, the Black Hawk helicopter carrying eight men seeking asylum after a coup bid landed at the airport in Alexandropoulos.
“Seven of those on board were in military uniform and all are believed to have been involved in the attempted putsch,” the Greek police said.
However, Turkey has asked Greece to send back the eight coup plotters.
“We have requested Greece to extradite the eight traitors as soon possible,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters.
According to an official in the Greek National Defence General Staff, “the helicopter is scheduled to be sent back immediately to Turkey”.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras early Saturday expressed his “support for the democratically elected” Turkish government.
