Turkish lawmakers visit UK after coup attempt

LONDON

A cross-party group of Turkish MPs continued a series of briefings in Britain on Wednesday and are expected to meet Turkish community representatives and journalists.

Members of the Turkish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission have already met a number of U.K.-based think tanks, diplomats and political figures about the July 15 coup attempt and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization [FETO].

Led by the head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Justice and Development (AK) Party MP Talip Kucukcan, the group consists of AK Party MPs Osman Askin Bak, Azmi Ekinci, the deputy head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Mehmet Gunal and Republican People's Party (CHP) MP Mevlut Dudu.

The group has already briefed the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Muslim Council of Britain in London on Tuesday.

The Foreign Affairs Commission MPs also met senior diplomat Sir Simon McDonald and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Conservative Party MP and former chairman of the party’s International Office.

AK Party MP Talip Kucukcan also appeared on BBC's Newsnight on Tuesday evening.

Following their visits, the MHP’s Mehmet Gunal told Anadolu Agency the briefings were intended to provide a clearer picture of Turkey after the coup attempt.

“We are here to give insight, to break bias and correct misunderstandings about the developments in Turkey,” he said, adding: “As members of the Turkish parliament representing different parties, we are here in unity for our country.”

AK Party MP Osman Askin Bak also said that they believed in the strong role of parliamentary diplomacy and had come to London to answer all questions:

“We see that most people, even scholars are under heavy influence of the attempted coup coverage of the Western media because, for most of them, this biased coverage by the media is [their] only source,” Bak said, adding:

“As MPs who are chosen by their people and as MPs whose parliament has been bombed, we are here to answer all questions.”

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, AK Party MP Azmi Ekinci accused the West of being mostly concerned about the “coup plotters”.

“In our meetings we are often asked about the conditions of the coup plotters. Unfortunately, I did not see a firm and sincere stand against the coup attempt. What I see are concerns about the coup plotters,” he said.