A former U.S. commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan, was the organizer of the July 15 military coup attempt in Turkey, according to major Turkish newspaper, YeniSafak.
Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, warned on Monday that ties with Washington could suffer unless they extradite the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, Erdogan’s ideological adversary. Washington has repeatedly said that Turkey must provide solid evidence of any links Gulen might have to the attempted coup before any possible extradition process is discussed.
The Turkish daily reported that Campbell had top secret meetings at the Erzurum military base and Incirlik air base in Turkey, adding that the US general “directed the process of trending / blacklisting the military officers in the base.”
According to the paper, “Millions of dollars of money has been transferred from Nigeria to Turkey by a group of CIA personnel.
“The money, which has been distributed to an 80-person special team of the CIA, was used to convince pro-coup generals.
“After taking money from their bank accounts, the CIA team hand-delivered it to the terrorists under the military dresses.”
A total of 13,165 people have been detained in connection with the foiled coup attempt in Turkey, President Erdogan said on Sunday. He mentioned that 8,838 of those arrested are soldiers, 2,101 are judges and prosecutors, 1,485 are police officers, 52 are local authorities and 689 are civilians, as reported by the Hurriyet daily.
He added that 934 schools, 109 dormitories, 15 universities, 104 foundations, 35 health institutions, 1,125 associations and 19 unions were closed as they belonged to what he described as “the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization.”
