TURKEY’S Prime Minister has admitted some people may have been treated unfairly in the country’s post-coup crackdown, as Germany banned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from addressing a local rally.

Retaliating after a failed military attempt to unseat him, Erdogan has launched a purge that has seen tens of thousands of people suspended from their jobs and almost 19,000 detained.

Responding to widening international alarm about the crackdown, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim admitted there may have been some unfair treatment in the state sector.

“There must definitely be some among them who were subjected to unfair procedures,” he said in comments published by state-run Anadolu news agency. “We will make a distinction between those who are guilty and those who are not.”

Echoing Yildirim’s tone, deputy prime minister Numan Kurtulmus said: “If there are any mistakes, we will correct them”.

TURKEY’S PRESIDENT BANNED FROM GERMAN RALLY

Turkey summoned a senior German diplomat a day after a rally of tens of thousands of Erdogan supporters in Cologne in opposition to the coup.

Hours before the demonstration, Germany’s constitutional court rejected an application to show via video link live speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdogan, over fears they could work up the crowd.

The decision sparked anger in Turkey, with presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin calling the move a “violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly”.

A spokeswoman for the German embassy in Ankara told AFP that the charge d’affaires had “been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry at 1pm” on Monday over the rally.

Turkish foreign ministry sources said the envoy was summoned to “strongly express our disappointment” over the ban on a popularly elected leader from addressing the rally and called the German approach “unacceptable.” But Germany, which is home to the largest portion of Turkey’s diaspora, played down the incident, saying such “invitations” were nothing out of the ordinary.

Ties between Germany and Turkey are already strained over the German parliament’s decision to brand as genocide the World War I-era Armenian massacre by Ottoman forces.

GERMANY: Large Turn Out for Pro Erdogan Rally in Cologne July 31 Police said as many as 40,000 supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied in Cologne on Sunday, July 31, more than two weeks after an attempted coup that led to a widespread crackdown against parts of the military, media, civil servants, teachers and academics in Turkey. Police initially spoke of 20,000 protesters who rallied under the banner, “Yes to democracy, no to a coup,” but revised their figures upwards. Organizers said they expected more than 50,000 people. Speakers criticized the German media, accusing it of anti-Erdogan bias in the wake of the coup attempt. Turkish politicians also attacked the German police’s refusal to allow Erdogan to address his supporters in Cologne via a live stream. Hundreds of far-right protesters gathered outside Cologne’s central train station, facing off with hundreds of anti-fascist protesters, according to German news media. Police blocked a march by the right-wing Pro-NRW group after finding weapons on a number of its supporters. Credit: _.seyma.ozan.erol

FUGITIVE SOLDIERS CAPTURED

Turkey on Monday said it had arrested 11 fugitive soldiers suspected of involvement in an attack on Erdogan’s hotel during the night of the coup.

Erdogan was staying in the western seaside resort of Marmaris on July 15 but dashed to Istanbul just before the hotel came under attack from rebel soldiers determined to oust him from power.

Just one soldier from the attack group now remains at large, Kurtulmus said.

Turkey Captures 11 Suspected Fugitive Commandos Turkish security forces have captured 11 suspected fugitive commandos who officials say were part of a squad planning to capture President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the failed coup two weeks ago.

POLICE KILLED IN BOMB ATTACK

Six police officers have been killed and four others wounded when a car bomb exploded as a police vehicle passed in southeastern Turkey.

The bomb was detonated by remote control as the vehicle passed through a road in Bingol province on Monday.

The attack was carried out by the members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), sources said. Two of those injured were in serious condition.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union, has waged an armed campaign against security forces in the mainly Kurdish southeast since 1984, pushing for Kurdish autonomy. More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have died in the violence.