Foreign ministers cite concerns about Turkish crackdown
By Lesley Wroughton and Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dutch, German and Canadian foreign ministers on Wednesday expressed concern about the scale of the crackdown by Turkish authorities in the aftermath of the country's failed coup attempt and called on Turkey to respect the rule of law. "We have serious concerns about the situation in Turkey," Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders told a news conference in Washington. "We want to send a strong signal on the need to ... respect the rule of law." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his government viewed with concern reports of thousands of people arrested in Turkey and some prevented from leaving the country. "We are looking with concern at news ... that thousands of people have been dismissed and suspended, including soldiers and judges, and that university professors are now being prevented from leaving the country, and that broadcast stations are being closed, and having their licenses withdrawn," Steinmeier said. "We understand, of course, that there must be a political and judicial processing of this attempted coup, but it must occur in accordance with criteria established by the rule of law," he said. The foreign ministers spoke at a news conference on the sidelines of an Iraq donor conference. European leaders have also been united in their rejection of any plans by Turkey to reinstate the death penalty in response to the coup attempt, saying that such a move would be a deal-breaker for Turkey's bid to join the European Union. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was more cautious in his remarks, repeating that Washington supported the Turkish authorities’ efforts to “put down” the coup and condemned any effort to overthrow a democratically elected government. Asked whether the Turkish government’s initial reaction to the coup was excessive, Kerry said: “There is no way for us to know because we don’t know what the evidence is.” “We are clear about our desire to see democracy sustained and flourish in Turkey,” Kerry said, adding that at the same time the U.S. wanted to ensure that the response to the coup fully respected democratic principles. Kerry said Turkey had submitted material to the U.S. government on Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based cleric whom Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan accuses of orchestrating the coup and wants the U.S. government to extradite. Gulen, a former ally turned critic of Erdogan, has denied any role in the attempted coup and condemned it. “They have apparently submitted something ... and we know that is on its way to us. I haven’t seen it yet,” Kerry said, referring to material Turkey submitted electronically to the United States government on Gulen. He said he had emphasized to Turkey that it should not submit allegations against Gulen and instead should provide evidence of his apparent involvement in the attempted coup. “We need to have evidence with which we can make a judgment," Kerry said. U.S. officials have said that the State Department and Justice Department were reviewing whether the material sent by Turkey amounted to an official extradition request. Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion echoed concerns voiced by his Dutch and German counterparts, and said his country had also received requests from Turkey before and after the coup about supporters of Gulen who were living in Canada. "We have asked for evidence because ... the Canadian justice system cannot press an issue on the basis of allegations," Dion said. Kerry and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, attending a separate meeting on the issue with defense ministers, said Turkish officials had assured them they remained committed to the fight against Islamic State. “Nothing that happened over the weekend will interrupt their support for our collective counter-ISIL campaign,” Carter told a news conference, using another acronym for the extremist group. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Andrea Shalal; Additional reporting by Yeganah Torbati; Editing by Tom Brown and James Dalgleish)
