Turkey dismantles barracks, airbase used by coup plotters

The Akinci airbase, used by rebels during the failed coup on July 15 in Turkey, will be dismantled like other barracks in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday.

"The Akinci Airbase in Ankara, centre for the heinous coup plot, will be closed. The base will be transformed into a place to commemorate our martyrs," Efe news quoted the head of government as saying, referring to the victims of the coup, in which 265 people died.

"We are closing all the barracks in Ankara and Istanbul that sent out coup tanks (and) helicopters," he promised.

"We will absolutely bring back that head of Fetullah Terrorist Organization, the (one) responsible for this coup who is now in the US," Yildirim added in a reference to Fetullah Gulen, the Islamist cleric, who was an ally of the Islamist Turkish government until 2013, and then became one of its enemies.

Turkey has said that it is preparing a request for Gulen's extradition from the United States but Washington has not confirmed the receipt of a formal request, which should include evidence of the guilt of the cleric.

--IANS

lok/vt