Bone to Pick

Turkey Slams U.N. Over Coup Comments

'Unfortunate' for U.N. to admonish Turkey instead of coup plotters.

A representative for Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Saturday called remarks by the United Nations' top human rights official on the July 15 coup attempt "unacceptable." Tanju Bilgic, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said a warning from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein for Turkey to stop its "thirst for revenge" was "unfortunate." "It is at best an unfortunate statement for a UN official tasked with guarding human rights to say 'he has no sympathy' for coup plotters instead of condemning these terrorists who have attempted a bloody coup," Bilgic said, adding that Zeid should visit Turkey to see for himself that human rights are not being violated. Earlier this week, Zeid said he had heard reports of suspects in the failed coup attempt being tortured and mistreated by authorities, and he urged the government to follow "proper procedures" in dealing with the aftermath of the coup. Some Western leaders have expressed concerns that the Turkish government is going too far in its handling of the failed coup, cracking down on soldiers, police, judges, journalists and civil servants and banning academics from going abroad.