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Turkey Captures Soldiers Accused of Trying to Kill or Kidnap Erdogan In an Effort to Maintain U.S. Ties, Turkey Softens Its Tone
(about 5 hours later)
ISTANBUL — Turkish forces flying attack helicopters and drones raided a forested area in southwestern Turkey overnight, capturing a fugitive unit of commandos who had tried to assassinate or kidnap President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month during a coup attempt, Turkish officials said on Monday. ANKARA, Turkey — In the two weeks since a failed coup, Turkish officials and the pro-government media have whipped up anti-American sentiment by suggesting that the United States played some role in the botched conspiracy to topple the government.
The commandos, who joined a conspiracy initiated by a rebel faction of the military to topple the government, had been on the run since early on July 16, when they assaulted a seaside hotel in Marmaris where Mr. Erdogan had been vacationing. But when Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Monday with officials in the Turkish capital he heard far more measured tones.
The president slipped away just before the commandos’ helicopters arrived, however, in one of the most dramatic events in a long night of violence that ultimately failed to topple the government but that left more than 250 people dead. The top Turkish military officer and the prime minister, Binali Yildirim, both told him they want the two countries to continue their close relationship, particularly in efforts to defeat the Islamic State, General Dunford said.
Residents in the Marmaris area played a role in capturing the fugitive commandos, spotting them while out boar-hunting and quickly alerting the authorities. The officials did not raise a single question with General Dunford about whether the United States had played a role in the coup attempt. Their silence highlights a common tactic among Turkish officials to denounce the United States to their own public while reassuring American officials privately that they are committed to a strategic partnership.
Mr. Erdogan’s ability to evade his captors was decisive in the coup’s failure, enabling him to rally his supporters, in a speech delivered over his iPhone’s FaceTime app, to oppose renegade military units. Later, he flew to Istanbul, where his arrival provided the surest sign that the coup would ultimately fail. “One thing that was very clear to me is that they believe, as I do, that Turkey and the United States working together against ISIL is a hell of a lot better than us not working together,” General Dunford said after the meetings, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
In the overnight raid, special forces captured 11 commandos thought to have been part of the plot against Mr. Erdogan’s life, although one suspect is still at large, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, said in a news conference on Monday. In the days after the coup attempt by a rebel faction of the military, some American military operations against the Islamic State were halted because Turkey would not allow American fighter planes stationed at Incirlik Air Base, in the southern part of the country, to take off. Turkey closed the base, in part, because they believed a tanker plane from there had been used to refuel Turkish fighter jets that carried out strikes for the coup plotters.
The capture of the commandos came as Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Monday to assure Turkey that the United States was against the coup attempt and to discuss the countries’ joint fight against Islamic State militants. The Turkish head of the base was arrested and accused of a role in the coup, and for more than a week electricity was cut off, forcing the Americans there to rely on generators. There have also been protests outside the base, where some Turks have called for the United States to leave. General Dunford said the Turkish leaders told him that the United States would continue to have access to the base and others in the country. He also said that every Turkish leader he met, including the speaker of Parliament, had told him that they wanted the United States to hand over Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in self-exile in Pennsylvania and who they have accused of organizing the plot.
General Dunford’s visit aimed to cool tensions fanned by some Turkish officials and pro-government commentators who had questioned whether the United States might somehow have supported the coup attempt, which President Obama has strongly denied. They have also demanded the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania whom the Turkish authorities have accused of leading the botched coup. “The tone in all three meetings was very positive, not accusatory at all,” the general said. “On the contrary, they expressed the importance of the partnership but did state how important it was for Gulen to be repatriated.”
General Dunford was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Gen. Hulusi Akar, the chief of general staff of the Turkish armed forces, and possibly with Mr. Erdogan. He said he told the Turks that he would relay their perspective to senior American leaders, although the Obama administration is already well aware of their concerns. Turkey has already sent a dossier of evidence alleging that Mr. Gulen was involved in the coup to the White House, and said it would begin formal extradition proceedings.
“He will deliver messages condemning in the strongest possible terms the recent coup attempt and reaffirming the importance of our enduring partnership for regional stability,” Capt. Gregory L. Hicks, a spokesman for General Dunford, said in a statement. Between meetings, General Dunford toured the Parliament building that was damaged by helicopter gunfire and four bombs that were dropped from fighter planes while lawmakers were inside.
Turkish officials have complained that European and American leaders have focused more on denouncing Mr. Erdogan’s post-coup purges of tens of thousands of people from state institutions and the private sector than on standing by Turkey as it put down the violent rebellion. Hours before General Dunford’s visit, Turkish forces flying attack helicopters and drones raided a forested area in southwestern Turkey, capturing a fugitive unit of commandos who had tried to assassinate or kidnap President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last month during the attempted coup. The commandos had been on the run since early on July 16, when they attacked a seaside hotel in Marmaris where Mr. Erdogan had been vacationing.
Ankara was further annoyed when Mr. Erdogan was barred from addressing tens of thousands of Turks who gathered in Cologne, Germany, over the weekend to express support for the Turkish leadership. The president slipped away just before the commandos’ helicopters arrived, however, in one of the most dramatic events in a night of violence that left more than 250 people dead. Residents of the Marmaris area were apparently boar hunting when they spotted the fugitive commandos, according to officials. “We thought there was suspicious activity when we saw the men in the forest,” a witness said in an interview on the private news channel CNN Turk. “But we knew for sure when the authorities showed us pictures of the men.”
American military and intelligence officials expressed concern last week about the impact that Turkey’s crackdown on the military could have on counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. Of particular concern are the need to secure the border between Turkey and Syria, to prevent foreign fighters from joining Islamic State militants in the war-torn country, and joint operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. In the overnight raid, special forces captured 11 commandos thought to have been part of the plot against Mr. Erdogan’s life, with one suspect still at large, Numan Kurtulmus, Turkey’s deputy prime minister, said in a news conference on Monday. More than a dozen other soldiers were already in custody and accused of being part of the operation on Mr. Erdogan’s hotel. Video footage showed suspects covered in bruises being loaded into armored vehicles as anti-coup demonstrators gathered in the area chanting, “Traitors! We want the death penalty!”
When Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the leader of the United States Central Command, said last week that he was worried that the purge of Turkish officers, including many who had worked with the Americans, would undermine the fight against the Islamic State, Turkish officials reacted with alarm, saying the comments amounted to sympathy for the coup plotters. Among those arrested in connection with the uprising was the commander of the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, a major staging area for United States Air Force operations against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. In recent days, new details have surfaced about what occurred during the coup attempt. A Turkish military official who is believed to have been part of the coup called General Dunford’s office shortly after it began, according to a Pentagon official. The person who answered the phone said that the general, who was traveling in Afghanistan, was not there. The military official then hung up the phone. The message was relayed to General Dunford in Afghanistan, who ultimately did not reach the official. The episode was first reported by BuzzFeed.
Mr. Erdogan, speaking to reporters recently in Ankara, referred to General Votel’s comments without mentioning him by name: “Who are you? You have got to know your place. Instead of thanking this government for thwarting this coup attempt and for maintaining democracy, you are standing by the putschists.” Almost immediately after the coup failed, Mr. Erdogan and his government began a vast purge of the military and state bureaucracy, arresting thousands of soldiers and dismissing tens of thousands of other state employees they accused of having links Mr. Gulen. Turkish officials have complained that Western leaders have focused more on denouncing Mr. Erdogan’s post-coup purges than on standing by Turkey as it suppressed the violent rebellion. Ankara was further annoyed when Mr. Erdogan was barred from addressing tens of thousands of Turks who gathered in Cologne, Germany, over the weekend to express support for the Turkish leadership.
Almost immediately after the failed coup, Mr. Erdogan embarked on a wide-ranging purge of the military, arresting or dismissing thousands of officers and soldiers on suspicion of having taken a direct part or of having ties to Mr. Gulen. On Sunday, the president’s office announced that about 1,400 additional military personnel had been discharged, including Mr. Erdogan’s personal military aide. American military and intelligence officials expressed concern last week about the impact that Turkey’s crackdown on the military could have on counterterrorism cooperation. Of particular note were the need to secure the border between Turkey and Syria, to prevent foreign fighters from joining Islamic State militants in the war-torn country, and joint operations against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Over the weekend, Mr. Erdogan, operating under a three-month state of emergency that allows the president to enact laws without approval from Parliament, issued a decree that brings the military more fully under civilian control. When Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the head of the United States Central Command, made similar comments last week, Turkish officials reacted with alarm, saying the comments amounted to sympathy for the coup plotters. Mr. Erdogan, speaking to reporters recently in Ankara, referred to General Votel’s comments without mentioning him by name, saying, “Who are you? You have got to know your place. Instead of thanking this government for thwarting this coup attempt and for maintaining democracy, you are standing by the putschists.”
“We aim to prevent the armed forces from being used to stage another coup,” Mr. Kurtulmus told reporters on Monday. “The restructuring of the intelligence agencies is on the agenda, just like it was for the armed forces.” General Dunford said that none of the leaders he met with had raised concerns about General Votel’s comments, and instead focused their discussions on fortifying the bilateral relationship. “Look, this is a common enemy and they are trying to internally as well in the relationship with us quickly return to normal in taking the fight to ISIL,” he said.
The decree essentially decentralized and diversified the chain of command, allowing the president or prime minister to issue direct orders to the heads of the army, navy and air force without going through the chief of the general staff, who on paper is the country’s top military officer. The move brings the military under the Ministry of Defense and allows the defense minister to issue orders, presumably after receiving them from either the president or prime minister.
The move also adds more civilians, including deputy prime ministers and the justice, interior and foreign ministers, to the country’s supreme military council, which makes decisions about military personnel.
Mr. Erdogan has long sought to transform his office into an American-style executive one, which would require a change to Turkey’s Constitution, and there are signs that he is trying to capitalize on the botched coup to push forward this agenda. He has said in recent days that he wants to bring the country’s intelligence service and military under his control, and that he would submit legislation to Parliament.
As Western leaders raise concerns that the crackdown is being carried out beyond the rule of law and is threatening democracy, they also worry about Turkey’s reliability as a partner in counterterrorism and in containing the flow of migrants into the European Union.
Since the failed coup, there has been a small but noticeable uptick in the number of migrants traveling across the Aegean Sea to Greece from Turkey, to about 100 a day from about 30, the Greek authorities say. It is not yet clear if the increase is related to Turkish security forces being stretched after the coup.
The European Union reached a deal with Turkey in March to try to ease the migrant crisis that has roiled the Continent. Under the accord, the bloc agreed to give Ankara billions of dollars in aid to help support refugees inside Turkey, and to allow visa-free travel inside the European Union for Turks. But since then, the two sides have not agreed on terms to relax visa restrictions, and Turkish officials have said that if such a deal cannot be reached by October, the entire pact could be in jeopardy.