Turkey admits some crackdown dismissals may be ‘unfair’

ISTANBUL — Turkey admitted Monday there may have been some "unfair" treatment in its post-coup crackdown as it voiced anger at Germany for barring President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a rally in Cologne.

Retaliating after a failed military attempt to unseat him, Erdogan has launched a purge that has seen tens of thousands of people suspended from their jobs and almost 19,000 detained.

Apparently responding to widening international alarm about the crackdown, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim admitted there may have been some unfair treatment in the state sector.

"There must definitely be some among them who were subjected to unfair procedures," he said in comments published by state-run Anadolu news agency.

"We will make a distinction between those who are guilty and those who are not." 

Echoing his tone, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said: "If there are any mistakes, we will correct them." 

German rally 

Turkey meanwhile summoned a senior German diplomat, a day after a rally of tens of thousands of Erdogan supporters in Cologne in opposition to the coup.

Hours before the demonstration, Germany's constitutional court rejected an application to show via video link live speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdogan, over fears they could work up the crowd.

The decision sparked anger in Turkey, with Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin calling the move a "violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly".

A spokeswoman for the German embassy in Ankara told AFP that the charge d'affaires had "been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry at 1:00pm" on Monday over the rally.

Turkish foreign ministry sources said the envoy was summoned to "strongly express our disappointment" over the ban on a popularly elected leader from addressing the rally and called the German approach "unacceptable". 

But Germany, which is home to the largest portion of Turkey's diaspora, played down the incident, saying such "invitations" were nothing out of the ordinary. 

"In the day-to-day dealings between countries, it is a daily event — normal for a representative of a country to be called in to the foreign ministry of his host country," German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told journalists.

Ties between Germany and Turkey are already strained over the German parliament's decision to brand as genocide the World War I-era Armenian massacre by Ottoman forces.

Tensions with Washington 

Turkish officials also met with the top US military commander in the first direct talks since the failed coup, with Washington under pressure from Ankara to extradite the Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Ankara accuses Gulen of masterminding the coup and says it is seeking to remove all trace of his influence in Turkish institutions.

General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, met Turkish Chief of Staff General Hulusi Akar, after a visit to Incirlik air base — used by coalition planes for air raids on the Daesh terror group in Syria. 

"He will deliver messages condemning in the strongest terms the recent coup attempt and reaffirming the importance of our enduring partnership for regional security," Dunford's spokesman Greg Hicks said in a statement ahead of the talks. 

Unexpectedly, Dunford also visited the Turkish parliament which was extensively damaged by rebel air strikes on the night of the coup, seen as a symbolic gesture.

He was due to meet with the Turkish premier. 

Tensions between the two NATO allies have been aggravated by the foiled putsch, with some Turkish officials even alleging that Washington could have had a hand in the plot. The suggestion has been firmly denied by top US officials.

Turkey is now requesting the extradition of Gulen — who has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999 — from his leafy compound in Pennsylvania.

"We do not want [the US] to be in a position that will make us question our friendship," Yildirim said.

"If they keep on dragging [their] feet on the Gulen issue... then things will take a different course, because the events of July 15 are crystal clear."