Deputy PM: Army's sole role is defending Turkey

By Nurhan Corlu

ANKARA

Turkey’s military has just one responsibility -- defending the country -- Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said Sunday.

Speaking nearly a month after an attempted coup by rogue elements in the armed forces, Kurtulmus told Fox TV: “It is necessary to establish a Turkish Armed Forces which devotes itself just to defending the country, which never deals in politics, which has no hysterical wish to intervene in any kind of politics.

“I hope the July 15 attack, the coup attempt, will pave the way for such a result in Turkey and I believe we will manage to do it.”

He said the attempted coup -- which saw at least 240 people killed -- was “more treacherous” than a simple attempt to overthrow the government, alleging it was an effort to trigger civil war and prepare Turkey for foreign invasion.

“It is obvious,” he said. “We see it more clearly as we get new data and new solid evidence.”

The government claims the coup was orchestrated by members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.

Turkey has called for the U.S. to extradite Gulen and has submitted documents said to show his links to the coup attempt.