Turkey admits some crackdown dismissals may be 'unfair'

Turkey's chief of staff General Hulusi Akar (C) and US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff General Joseph Dunford (third from R), visit a destroyed part of the Turkish parliament in Ankara on August 1, 2016. EPAShow less

ISTANBUL // Turkey admitted on Monday that there may have been some “unfair” treatment in its post-coup crackdown.

Apparently responding to widening international alarm about the crackdown, prime minister Binali Yildirim admitted there may have been some unfair treatment in the state sector.

“There must definitely be some among them who were subjected to unfair procedures,” he said in comments published by state-run Anadolu news agency.

“We will make a distinction between those who are guilty and those who are not.”

Echoing Mr Yildirim’s tone, deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said: “If there are any mistakes, we will correct them”.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials met with the US’s top military commander in Abkara on Monday in the first direct talks between the two countries since the failed coup.

Mr Yildirim told General Joseph Dunford that his government remained committed to principles of law in its fight against coup plotters and called for Washington to extradite US-based preacher Fethullan Gulen “as soon as possible”.

Ankara accuses Mr Gulen of masterminding the coup and says it is seeking to remove all trace of his influence in Turkish institutions.

Retaliating after a failed military attempt to unseat him, Mr Erdogan has launched a purge in which tens of thousands of people have been suspended from their jobs and almost 19,000 detained.

Gen Dunford also met with Turkish chief of staff Hulusi Akar to “deliver messages condemning in the strongest terms the recent coup attempt and reaffirming the importance of our enduring partnership for regional security,” said the commander’s spokesman Greg Hicks.

Mr Yildirim told the US general to extradite “terrorist group leader Fetullah Gulen and members of Feto to our country as soon as possible,” his office said after the meeting, referring to what Turkey calls the Fethullah Terror Organisation.

“It is important that the United States, our strategic partner and ally, demonstrates a clear and determined approach against the terrorist coup attempt,” Mr Yildirim told the general.

Tensions between the two Nato allies have been aggravated by the foiled putsch, with some Turkish officials even alleging that Washington could have had a hand in the plot. The suggestion has been firmly denied by top US officials.

Last week, Mr Erdogan lashed out at the top US general in the Middle East, Gen Joseph Votel, after he expressed concerns about the future of military relations between the two allies in the wake of the coup bid.

Before his meetings with the Turkish officials, the US general visited Incirlik airbase, which is used by coalition planes for air raids on ISIL in Syria.

Unexpectedly, Gen Dunford also toured the Turkish parliament which was extensively damaged by rebel air strikes on the night of the coup, seen as a symbolic gesture.

* Agence France-Presse