Turkey shakes up armed forces, U.S. says purges harming cooperation
Source: Reuters
President Tayyip Erdogan angrily rejected Western criticism of purges under way in Turkey's military and other state institutions after a failed coup, suggesting some in the United States were on the side of the plotters.
The purges target supporters of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of masterminding the July 15-16 coup. Turkey's Western allies condemned the coup, in which at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured, but they have been rattled by the scale of the crackdown.
The director of U.S. national intelligence, James Clapper, said on Thursday the purges were harming the fight against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq by sweeping away Turkish officers who had worked closely with the United States.
The head of U.S. Central Command, General Joseph Votel, said he believed some of the military figures whom the United States had worked with were in jail, drawing condemnation from Erdogan, who was speaking on Friday at a special forces headquarters in Ankara badly damaged by violence on the night of the coup.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-idUSKCN10912T
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