TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The former Secretary-General of Turkey’s National Security Council said those behind last week’s failed military coup had pledged allegiance to NATO and would have pursued the alliance’s policies had the coup attempt succeeded.
Image shows Turkey’s Retired General Tuncer Kılınç.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Tuncer Kılınç, who is also a retired Turkish general, pointed to the consequences of the recent attempted coup in Turkey and said the coup plotters had openly declared their close ties with NATO.
“We can conclude from the declaration that they would pursue no policies other than those of NATO,” he said.
He further stressed the need for national unity in Turkey and regretted that the coup attempt targeted the country’s “unified fight against terrorism”.
The coup attempt started on Friday evening, July 15, when tanks took up positions on two bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, blocking traffic.
On Saturday, Turkey announced that the failed attempt to seize control of the country by a faction of the armed forces was over, with thousands of soldiers, including high-ranking officers being arrested.
At least 265 people were killed in the clashes between coup plotters and government supporters.
Tuncer Kılınç (born 1940, Istanbul) is a retired Turkish general who was a Secretary-General of the National Security Council from 2001 to 2003.
He was arraigned in court as a defendant in the Ergenekon trials until August 2013 when he was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
At a 2007 meeting of the Atatürkist Thought Association, Tuncer spearheaded Turkey’s decision to leave NATO.
Tuncer Kılınç’s educational qualifications show he graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1960, and the Army War College (Kara Harp Akademisi) in 1973.
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