Turkish PM to meet opposition leaders, US general

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will meet opposition party leaders on Monday, according to a statement by the Prime Ministry.

The statement said Yildirim and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu will meet at 2.00 p.m. [1100GMT] at the CHP headquarters in Ankara.

The prime minister will later meet Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli at 3.30 p.m. [1230GMT] at the Turkish parliament.

Following his meetings with the opposition leaders, Yildirim will receive the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, at 5 p.m. [1400GMT] at the Cankaya Palace.

The meeting with Dunford comes after comments by senior U.S. military figures have sparked reactions by Turkey as showing tacit support for the officers behind the July 15 attempted coup.

Ankara has also increased pressure on Washington to extradite U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, named by the Turkish government as the mastermind of the coup attempt.

Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20 after a group of rogue military officers were defeated in their July 15 coup attempt.

During a state of emergency, the Cabinet has the right to issue statutory decrees under the president of the republic without regard to routine procedures and restrictions in Article 91 of the Constitution. These decrees were first published in the official gazette and then submitted to parliament for ratification.

More than 230 people were killed and nearly 2,200 injured in the coup attempt, which Turkish officials have repeatedly said was carried out by Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), led by Fetullah Gulen who has been living in U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999.