UPDATE - Turkish diplomats face suspension over coup probe

UPDATES WITH CAVUSOGLU RESPONSE TO JUNCKER’S COMMENT ON DEATH PENALTY

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu, Ayse Sarioglu and Meltem Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish ambassadors could be suspended in the nationwide probe into the July 15 coup attempt, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Monday.

Speaking during a live TV program on Monday, Cavusoglu said members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization had infiltrated the Foreign Ministry over the years by cheating in entrance exams.

“Some personnel in the ministry had been given answered questions... and some personnel were placed in key positions in the ministry,” he told broadcaster France 24.

Cavusoglu said the ambassadors who could be suspended had been recalled from their posts but that more junior staff still overseas could also be removed.

“They [have not been] assigned for any mission so far,” he said. “We have recalled them. But low-level civil servants who are on an international duty right now [will be suspended],” he said.

Tens of thousands of civil servants have been suspended from their jobs in the wake of the attempted coup and 13,000 have been arrested. The government has blamed the plot on U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen and his supporters in Turkey.

Cavusoglu said cheating in public service entrance exams was a criminal offense.

“They will suffer the consequences,” he added. “There are people who spent one or one-and-a-half years, who worked hard to be part of the ministry, but [Gulen supporters] took a position without any effort.”

Cavusoglu also responded to EU President Jean-Claude Juncker’s statement on the possibility of Turkey reintroducing the death penalty. Juncker said negotiations on Turkey’s bid to join the bloc would halt if the death sentence was brought back.

“[The EU] cannot speak with Turkey in such a threatening manner,” Cavusoglu said. “We are not afraid of their threats… Juncker is not Turkey’s boss.”

Calls for reinstating the death penalty have been growing in Turkey since the coup attempt. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the people’s demands cannot be overlooked and the matter would have to be discussed in parliament.

The coup attempt occurred when rogue elements in the Turkish military tried to overthrow the government, resulting in at least 246 deaths.

Gulen is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, and forming a “parallel state”.