 Turkish admiral seeks asylum in US after coup bid: report Ankara (AFP) Aug 10, 2016 - A Turkish rear admiral on a NATO assignment in the US has sought asylum in the country after Ankara sought his detention following the failed July 15 coup, state-run media said Wednesday. Turkish authorities have ousted thousands of military personnel including nearly half its generals and admirals since a rogue military faction tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power. Rear Admiral Mustafa Zeki Ugurlu is the subject of a detention order in Turkey and has been expelled from the armed forces, the Anadolu news agency reported. He has requested asylum from US authorities, it added, without giving its source. He had been stationed at NATO's Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, the news agency said. Ugurlu had not been heard from since July 22 when he left the base, Anadolu said. Izmir's chief prosecutor Okan Bato told Anadolu he was not able to get a statement from Ugurlu after seeking the prosecution of two admirals from the chief of staff. NATO said on Wednesday that Turkey's membership of the military alliance was "not in question", despite the tumult in the country. Anadolu did not say whether the United States had accepted Ugurlu's claim, believed to be the first of its kind since July 15, which comes at a time of strained relations between Washington and Ankara. The Turkish government has repeatedly pressed Washington to extradite Pennsylvania-based preacher Fethullah Gulen whom it blames for the coup bid, warning Washington that relations could suffer over the issue. "If the US does not deliver (Gulen), they will sacrifice relations with Turkey for the sake of a terrorist," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters during a televised briefing in the capital Ankara on Tuesday. Gulen strongly denies the accusations and his lawyer on Friday said Ankara had failed to provide "a scintilla" of proof to support its claims. Since July 15, tens of thousands of people from the military, judiciary, civil service and education establishment suspected of links with Gulen and his Islamic movement have been sacked or detained.
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Turkey remains a "strong" member of NATO, the presidency said on Wednesday, after a hugely symbolic visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Russia raised questions about its future in the alliance.
Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara's NATO membership -- which dates back to 1952 -- was not "mutually exclusive" with relationships with other countries like China and Russia.
"There is no argument that Turkey should not remain a member. It is something important. We are a strong member," he told reporters during a briefing at the presidential palace in Ankara.
His comments came shortly after NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said Turkey's NATO membership was "not in question", in a statement issued in response to "speculative press reports".
Kalin said: "We do not see this as a zero sum game. We do not see (relations with other countries) as mutually exclusive, we see it as mutually empowering."
After a rogue military faction tried to oust Erdogan in the failed July 15 coup, Turkey has criticised what it perceives to be the European Union's lack of support.
Erdogan's visit to Russia -- his first foreign trip since the coup bid -- caused concern that Ankara's close ties with the West could be at risk.
But Kalin said Ankara felt isolated after the failed putsch because no EU leader had paid a visit to Turkey, recalling that top European officials had rushed to France after militant attacks there.
"They have called -- and we thank them for that -- but after such a critical moment, is coming to Turkey so difficult?"
He said Tuesday's meeting between Putin and Erdogan was "good" and the two countries wanted to get relations back on track, six months after Ankara's shooting down of a Russian war plane on the Syrian border caused an unprecedented crisis in ties.
Kalin said Ankara and Moscow wanted to work together to help the Syrian people suffering after more than five years of civil war.
Turkey and Russia are on different sides of the war with Moscow giving military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whom Turkey repeatedly said must leave office.
Kalin insisted Turkey's position on Assad had not changed despite the reconciliation with Russia: "We still want him to go. Our position has not changed."
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