General denies planning coup as Turkey presses purge

Turkey has sacked almost 9,000 officials in its relentless crackdown against suspected coup plotters, authorities have said, as the former air force chief denied masterminding the weekend's failed putsch.
With Western allies expressing alarm over fears Ankara that could reinstate the death penalty in response to Friday's dramatic coup bid, General Akin Ozturk appeared in court, looking haggard and with his ear bandaged.
"I am not the person who planned or led the coup. Who planned it and directed it I do not know," state-run news agency Anadolu quoted him as saying in his statement to prosecutors.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to wipe out the "virus" of the putschists, whose attempted power grab left more than 300 people dead.

But the United States, European Union and United Nations have sternly warned him against excessive retribution as authorities round up the alleged perpetrators.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman denounced "revolting scenes of caprice and revenge against soldiers on the streets" after disturbing pictures emerged of the treatment of some detained suspects.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said over 7,500 people have been detained, including 103 generals and admirals, over the coup bid which Erdogan has blamed on his arch-foe, the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
The interior ministry said almost 9,000 people, including almost 8,000 police but also municipal governors and other officials, had also been dismissed in a widening purge.

Early yesterday, special Istanbul anti-terror police units raided the prestigious air force military academy, detaining four suspects, Anadolu reported.
Authorities have also detained General Mehmet Disli, who conducted the operation to capture chief-of-staff Hulusi Akar during the coup, an official said.
Erdogan has urged citizens to remain on the streets even after the defeat of the coup attempt, in what the authorities describe as a "vigil" for democracy.
Public servants' annual leave has meanwhile been cancelled until further notice.
With Turkey's big cities still on edge, Turkish security forces killed an armed attacker who shot at them from a vehicle outside the Ankara courthouse where suspected coup plotters were appearing before judges.

Western leaders have pushed Turkey to follow the rule of law as the massive retaliatory purge adds to existing concerns about human rights and democracy in the strategic NATO country.
"We also urge the government of Turkey to uphold the highest standards of respect for the nation's democratic institutions," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters after talks with EU foreign ministers.