Erdogan accuses West of 'supporting terror, coup plotters'

ISTANBUL:  

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused the West of supporting "terror" and the coup plotters who tried to unseat him, in his toughest attack on Ankara's Western allies since the July 15 attempted putsch.

"Unfortunately, the West is supporting terror and standing by the coup plotters," said Erdogan in a televised speech at his presidential palace. "Those who we imagined to be friends are standing by the coup plotters and by the terrorists."

Erdogan angrily denounced the judicial authorities in Germany for not allowing him to address via video conference a rally in Cologne at the weekend in his support. "Bravo! The courts in Germany work very fast!" Erdogan said with heavy irony.

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He accused Germany in the past of allowing leaders from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) of addressing events in Germany via video conference.

He said Turkey had previously also handed Germany a list of over 4,000 wanted militants without having any response. "But here constitutional court decides in two hours" to ban the video conference speech.

"Is the West on the side of democracy or on the side of terror?" he added, also accusing Belgium of failing to hand over a leftist militant linked to the 1996 killing of Turkish businessman Ozdemir Sabanci.