Reuters, Ankara :
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday he welcomed Turkey’s efforts against Islamic State and that Ankara had a right to defend itself.
“We welcome Turkey’s increasing efforts to fight against Daesh. Turkey has a right to defend itself. There have been many terrorist attacks coming from the Syrian side,” Stoltenberg told broadcaster NTV, which dubbed his comments into Turkish.
Daesh is an Arabic name for Islamic State.
Stoltenberg is visiting Turkey for the first time since the July 15 coup raised concern about the cohesion of the alliance’s second-largest military.
His visit also comes after Turkey launched its incursion into Syria last month, a military operation that has seen Turkey-backed rebels sweep Islamic State from the Syrian border.
Meanwhile, Turkey ordered dozens of businessmen and academics, arrested for alleged links to the U.S.-based cleric blamed for the failed July 15 coup, to remain in jail pending trial on Thursday, Turkish media said.
Arrest warrants were also issued for around 50 military officers, adding to the tens of thousands of people already detained over links to the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who denies any involvement in the attempted putsch. The crackdown has alarmed Western allies and rights groups.
Officials have rejected concerns that their actions are too heavy-handed, pointing to the gravity of the coup plot, where rogue soldiers commandeered fighter jets and tanks and attacked parliament, killing more than 240 people.
Among 27 businessmen formally arrested on Thursday pending trial was leading clothing maker and retailer Omer Faruk Kavurmaci, the son-in-law of Istanbul’s mayor, Kadir Topbas, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday he welcomed Turkey’s efforts against Islamic State and that Ankara had a right to defend itself.
“We welcome Turkey’s increasing efforts to fight against Daesh. Turkey has a right to defend itself. There have been many terrorist attacks coming from the Syrian side,” Stoltenberg told broadcaster NTV, which dubbed his comments into Turkish.
Daesh is an Arabic name for Islamic State.
Stoltenberg is visiting Turkey for the first time since the July 15 coup raised concern about the cohesion of the alliance’s second-largest military.
His visit also comes after Turkey launched its incursion into Syria last month, a military operation that has seen Turkey-backed rebels sweep Islamic State from the Syrian border.
Meanwhile, Turkey ordered dozens of businessmen and academics, arrested for alleged links to the U.S.-based cleric blamed for the failed July 15 coup, to remain in jail pending trial on Thursday, Turkish media said.
Arrest warrants were also issued for around 50 military officers, adding to the tens of thousands of people already detained over links to the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who denies any involvement in the attempted putsch. The crackdown has alarmed Western allies and rights groups.
Officials have rejected concerns that their actions are too heavy-handed, pointing to the gravity of the coup plot, where rogue soldiers commandeered fighter jets and tanks and attacked parliament, killing more than 240 people.
Among 27 businessmen formally arrested on Thursday pending trial was leading clothing maker and retailer Omer Faruk Kavurmaci, the son-in-law of Istanbul’s mayor, Kadir Topbas, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
