Turkey's international support after 2016 coup attempt

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Officials and international organizations across the globe had condemned a defeated coup attempt in Turkey, addressing their support to the Turkish government and people.

After the attempt on July 15, 2016 by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), many country's expressed their backing of Turkey in statements issued by their governments and leaders.

The first country to express its support was Bosnia and Herzegovina, with former Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bakir Izetbegovic stress his support to "friendly nation Turkey" and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Former Georgian President Giorgi Kvirikashvili and former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev were the first high-level visitors to Turkey after the coup attempt.

Though many European countries condemned the attempted putsch, most avoided visiting Turkey for a long period, while high-level officials from Bahrain, Palestine, Qatar, Iraq and Iran personally traveled to the country.

The Council of Europe, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCEPA), the UN and the Union of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) of the Islamic World, visited Ankara after the coup attempt.

The U.S threw its weight behind Turkey three hours after the coup it was announced that an attempt to overthrow the government had been launched, with Former Vice President Joe Biden visiting Turkey more than a month after the fact.

The extradition of the U.S.-based leader of FETO, Fetullah Gulen, has now become a major issue between Ankara and Washington.

In a press conference with Erdogan, Biden apologized for the delayed visit and said he had wished to come earlier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first foreign leader to call President Erdogan after the attempt.

Erdogan also had a phone conversation with former U.S. President Barack Obama on July 19.

Obama condemned the coup attempt to overthrow a democratically-elected government and expressed his support for democracy in Turkey.

President Erdogan's telephone conversations included officials and leaders from Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz to former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

The president and prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus -- Mustafa Akinci and Huseyin Ozgurgun, respectively -- Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, former Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani, Pakistani Punjab State Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, also made visits to Turkey after the coup attempt.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup attempt of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit