(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Turkey";s move to craft a strategic alliance with Russia is the new turning point in the aftermath of post-coup scenario.
After the failed coup attempt on June 15 that left 246 people dead and thousands injured, Turkish people are more united now leaving their political differences behind for the sake of the nation. The unity rally held on Sunday in Istanbul, said to be the biggest in Turkey";s history, has brought together the country";s president, prime minister and two main opposition leaders for the first time in many years. The ‘Democracy and Martyr";s Rally";, the culmination of daily anti-coup night rallies, was designed to uphold the unity of the country and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the main drive force behind the event, had asked people to bring the Turkish flag, instead of party banners. Main opposition Republican People";s Party leader Kemal Killicdaroglu even said that the failed coup had opened a new door of compromise in Turkey";s politics.
The gravity of the attempted coup is so wide that the latest figure indicates that more than 60,000 people have been sacked or suspended from government institutions, while about 11,000 have been arrested and 19,000 detained for investigation for potential links to the presumed perpetrator Fethullah Gulen and his Hizmet network. Twenty-four days have passed since the failed coup attempt and till this day no high-level European Union (EU)official, except the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, has visited Turkey. When France was attacked by terrorists more than once, Europe and West showed unparalleled solidarity towards the nation. But in Turkey, where some generals attempted to overthrow a democratically-elected government that is on the negotiation table with the EU, those self-styled champions of democracy ran away from their responsibilities. It is interesting to mention that EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton had visited President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi, who toppled Egypt";s first democratically-elected president Mohammed Mursi, on the 15th day after the bloody coup.
Turkey has expressed annoyance with what it regards as a lack of solidarity from friendly states including Nato ally the US. Washington has not responded positively to Ankara";s request for the extradition of Gulen, whom Turkey blames as perpetrator behind the attempted coup. Turkey";s move to craft a strategic alliance with Russia, which has already normalised relations after Erdogan";s apology for the downed jet, is the new turning point in the aftermath of post-coup scenario. In the meeting in St Petersburg today between Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, though mainly deal with energy and business, scope for wide political tie-up cannot be ruled out, especially when Erdogan made it bluntly clear he felt let down by the US and the European Union after the coup.