State Department says NATO is monitoring how the Turkish government responds to the failed coup. Members of the alliance are required to 'uphold democracy, including tolerating diversity, the Independent informs.
Turkey could fall foul of NATO's "requirement with respect to democracy" if it fails to uphold the rule of law in the wake of an attempted coup, the US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned. The Turkish government's response to the failed coup has alarmed both the US and the EU, after it described the plotters as a "cancer" which had to be "cleansed" from public institutions.
A State Department spokesman has suggested it is "too soon to say" if a clampdown by the Erdogan government could jeopardize Turkey's membership of NATO. But NATO's leadership has made it clear that a commitment to "uphold democracy, including tolerating diversity" is one of the five core requirements for members of the alliance.
While Ms Mogherini warned that countries that allow the death penalty cannot join the European Union, Mr Kerry added that "NATO also has a requirement with respect to democracy."
The US "will certainly support bringing the perpetrators of the coup to justice," he said, "but we also caution against a reach that goes beyond that and stress the importance of the democratic rule being upheld".
Mr Kerry strongly rebuked a Turkish minister who suggested Washington was behind the coup. He said "utterly false" insinuations were "harmful to our bilateral relations".
US President Barack Obama has joined other world leaders in calling for all parties in Turkey to "act within the rule of law".
