Turkey’s Erdogan tells French FM to ‘mind own business’

Tayyip Erdogan  declares a three-month state of emergency emergency in Turkey in order to hunt down all those deemed to be behind an attempted coup.

Ankara, Turkey | AFP |

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday told French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault “to mind his own business” after he warned Ankara over the crackdown after the coup in Turkey.

“He should mind his own business. Does he have the authority to make these declarations about my person? No he does not. If he wants a lesson in democracy he can very easily get a lesson in democracy from us,” Erdogan told Al-Jazeera in an interview.

Ayrault had called for maintaining the rule of law in Turkey in the wake of the coup saying “this is not a blank cheque for Mr Erdogan” to silence critics.

Earlier, Erdogan had also said other countries could be involved in the coup attempt to overthrow him, adding the organisation of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who he blames for the coup was itself led by a “superior mind”.

“There could be,” Erdogan said, asked if other countries could have been involved in the coup in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

“The Gulen organisation has another superior mind, if you will, and the time will come when those connections will be deciphered,” he said.

Erdogan added that it ‘may not be end of coup attempt, may be more plans’.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey in order to hunt down all those deemed to be behind an attempted coup.

The state of emergency was needed “in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt,” he said at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Turkey has accused the group of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup and acting as a terror group. Gulen vehemently denies the charge.

“The decision has been made to declare the state of emergency for a period of three months,” he said at a news conference.

He said the state of emergency is a measure “against the terror threat facing our country”.

The annoucment followed long meetings of Turkey’s national security council and cabinet chaired by Erdogan at the presidential palace.