U.S. General Seeks to Soothe Turkey Ties Strained by Coup Purge

Members of Patriotic Party shout slogans as they demonstrate against the visit of U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph F. Dunford in front of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on August 1, 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

ISTANBUL (Reuters)””America’s highest-ranking military officer sought on Monday to soothe strained ties with NATO ally Turkey, which was angered by the West’s response to the coup attempt and by a U.S. reluctance to hand over the cleric it says was responsible.

The fallout from the abortive coup on July 15, in which more than 230 people were killed as mutinous soldiers commandeered fighter jets, helicopters and tanks in a bid to seize power, has deepened a rift between Ankara and its Western allies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many Turks have been frustrated by U.S. and European criticism of a government crackdown in the wake of the attempted putsch in Turkey, a country vital to the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State and to stopping illegal migration to Europe.

They have accused Western leaders of being more concerned about the rights of the plotters than the gravity of the threat to a NATO member state.

More than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the coup, prompting fears that Erdogan is pursuing an indiscriminate crackdown on all forms of dissent.

Senior Turkish officials rounded on Germany for preventing Erdogan from addressing a rally on Sunday of his supporters in Cologne via video-link. Berlin’s foreign ministry spokesman acknowledged relations were going through a “bumpy patch.”