Austria summons Turkish ambassador over pro-Erdoğan demonstrations in Vienna
VIENNA – Reuters
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Austria has summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Vienna to explain Ankara’s links to demonstrations in Austria in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who is leading a crackdown after a failed coup attempt, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said on July 21.Kurz told ORF radio that the ambassador would be asked whether Turkish officials encouraged thousands of people in Austria to take to the streets over recent days in support of Erdoğan after the attempt to unseat him.
“We want to clarify... which direction Turkey is going to take,” Kurz said in an interview broadcast by ORF on July 21.
“Secondly, we have evidence that the demonstrations for Erdoğan that have taken place in Vienna were called for directly from Turkey... and that, of course, is absolutely untenable and we want to protest against that,” he said.
Erdoğan declared a state of emergency on late July 20 as he widened a crackdown against thousands of members of the security forces, judiciary, civil service and academia after the failed military coup attempt.
