MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The Kremlin has no information that Russia reportedly warned Turkey of an imminent military coup, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
"I don’t have such information and I don’t know the sources, to which the news agency Fars is referring," Peskov told journalists, commenting on media reports.
Iranian Fars News Agency (FNA) reported on Wednesday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had received a warning from Russia about an imminent military coup just hours before it was initiated.
The news agency referred to several Arab media outlets quoting diplomats from Ankara who said that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization "received intel from its Russian counterpart that warned of an impending coup".
The warning was based on the data that the Russian military in the region had received intercepting "highly sensitive army exchanges and encoded radio messages showing that the Turkish army was readying to stage a coup," Fars said.
In particular, the Turkish military reportedly discussed plans to dispatch several army helicopters to the hotel (in Marmaris) where Erdogan stayed to arrest or kill him, the news agency said.
"The diplomats were not sure of the Russian station that had intercepted the exchanges, but said the Russian army intelligence unit deployed in Hmeymim in Syria's northern province of Latakia is reportedly equipped with state-of-the-art electronic and eavesdropping systems to gather highly sensitive information," Fars said.
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State of emergency Turkey’s internal affair
The Kremlin spokesman has also commented on the imposition of a state of emergency in Turkey.
"This is an internal affair of Turkey," Peskov said when asked to comment on Ankara’s recent decision.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday that the state of emergency will be imposed in the country for three months following a failed military coup attempt. This will provide an opportunity "to promptly respond to actions of different terrorist organizations," Erdogan said.
Coup attempt in Turkey
A group of insurgents attempted a coup in Turkey overnight to July 17. Bombs were dropped on the parliament building and the presidential palace in Ankara. The country’s leadership later said that the coup was quashed. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the situation is under the control of the official government.
According to latest reports, about 190 civilians and 100 putschists died and nearly 1,500 more people were injured. Over 6,000 people were arrested after a failed coup attempt. Over 7,500 people were detained on suspicion of involvement into the coup attempt. Among them are two presidential adjutants, 100 policemen, 6,038 servicemen and 755 judges and prosecutors.