Turkey On War Path With U.S. Over Failed Coup And Opposition Cleric

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says Turkey is at war with any nation sympathetic to Muslim cleric and opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Fethullah Gulen. Opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen currently resides in the U.S. and his supporters are said to have organised last night’s bloody coup which saw 1,700 people killed or injured in Turkey. The coup was led by an ex-Commander of the Turkish Air Force, according to reports. Akin Ozturk, was about to be linked with Turkish opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen and led last night’s failed coup, according to an Istanbul based news agency. See below. The Turkish Prime Minister’s veiled threat against the US is seen as astonishing considering the close relationship of the two countries. The Daily Express reports: He said: “Any country that protects Fethullah Gulen will be an enemy to Turkey.” Moderate cleric Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, has been a constant scapegoat for Erdogan who has accused him of trying to establish a “parallel state” to rival his own fiefdom. The statement by Mr Yildirim will be seen as a thinly veiled threat to America to give up Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile at a religious retreat, or face diplomatic or even military consequences. [...]