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President Erdogan recalls night of coup attempt

CCTV.com

07-22-2016 17:35 BJT

One week has passed since the failed military coup in Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a recent interview, spoke of the night that rattled the country. He said that he initially did not believe what was happening.

"My brother-in-law was telling me that soldiers were actually cutting off streets, and they were not allowing cars to proceed to take to the bridge. When I got the news, initially I did not believe that this was happening and I called the head of national security, the head of national intelligence, I could not reach him. I called the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, I could not reach him, they were not in a position to be able to answer their phones," Erdogan said.

Erdogan said that there were significant intelligence failures prior to last week's attempted military coup, adding that the armed forces will now quickly undergo a restructuring. The president also continues to accuse Fethullah Gulen, a charismatic U.S.-based cleric and former ally, of masterminding the plot. In a crackdown on Gulen's suspected followers, more than 60,000 soldiers, police officers, judges, civil servants and educators have been suspended, detained or placed under investigation.

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