ANKARA (AA) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused the West of backing terrorism and coups.
Erdogan, who has hinted at suspicions of foreign involvement in the July 15 coup attempt previously, also criticized “some Western countries” for urging people against visiting Turkey.
“The West is supporting terrorism and taking side with coups [since] they are not hurt as badly as we are,” he told a meeting of international investors at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.
He added: “The failed coup was not masterminded and planned inside Turkey but orchestrated abroad.”
Turkey has repeatedly accused preacher Fetullah Gulen of organizing the coup from self-imposed exile in the U.S. and has said those involved in the coup are members of the banned Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
In an apparent reference to an electronic board at Vienna airport used by the Kronen Zeitung newspaper to screen headlines, Erdogan said: “Unfortunately, some European countries show adverts at their airports like ‘Do not go to Turkey. You will be supporting Erdogan’.
“What kind of democracy is that? I am not a president that came to power by military coup, rather a president who got 52 percent of the votes of public.”
A similar message displayed at Vienna has been widely reported in the Turkish media and EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik criticized it on Sunday, tweeting that the “scandalous sign” was “sheer hostility” and “against EU values”.
