Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 10
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkish Navy Admiral Zeki Ugurlu, who is accused of involvement in the military coup attempt in Turkey, has requested asylum in the US, the Anadolu Agency reported Aug. 10.
Currently, the admiral is in the US state of Virginia.
Earlier, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in his interview with Anadolu Agency that as many as 16,000 people were arrested in Turkey as a part of the fight against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of organizing the military coup attempt in the country.
Istanbul court adopted a decision on Aug. 4 to arrest Fethullah Gulen.
On July 15 evening, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country. Meanwhile, a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them.
However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the death toll as a result of the military coup attempt stood at 246 people excluding the coup plotters and over 2,000 people were wounded.
Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey on July 20.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu