Foreign reporters tour Ankara sites damaged in coup bid

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA

Foreign journalists on Tuesday visited state buildings damaged during the thwarted July 15 coup attempt.

Reporters from German broadcaster ARD, Al Jazeera English, France’s state-run broadcaster and Russian media were welcomed at the Grand National Assembly by Parliamentary Speaker Ismail Kahraman.

“A group of terrorists organized by a terrorist leader living in the U.S. tried to concoct an uprising, a mutiny and take on the government,” he said in a briefing. “For us, these coup-plotters were just terrorists who wore the uniforms of soldiers.”

The main parliament building in central Ankara was damaged by F-16 fighter jets flown by pro-coup pilots belonging to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), Kahraman said.

He added that the group should be considered a danger to the whole world. “Their operations in the respective countries should be stopped immediately,” he said, reiterating that U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen was the group’s mastermind and the coordinator of the coup attempt.

“I believe that the U.S. will extradite him to our country,” he said. “Turkey will do whatever is necessary to enforce the law of justice.”

The journalists also visited the Presidential Palace, where five civilians were martyred on the night of the coup.

Ayse Sozen Usluer, head of the Turkish Presidency’s Foreign Relations Department, showed them damaged areas and spoke about the night’s events. “The presidential complex was one of the most important places for the coup plotters, which they wanted to destroy and occupy,” he said.

After visiting Ankara’s police headquarters, which was heavily damaged by airstrikes, Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek held a news conference where he played a video showing civilians being killed. “These displays are not censored,” he said. “We are not allowed to air them due to the Radio and Television Supreme Council ban.”

Gokcek said the video disproved Western media allegations that pro-coup soldiers were tortured by civilians. He also called on the U.S. to extradite Gulen. “We do not want to believe that the U.S. stands behind FETO. If he is not extradited, we will believe that the U.S. is behind the coup.”

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the deadly July 15 coup attempt was organized by Gulen’s followers in the military.