Turkey’s Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Sunday said some 6,000 people have been detained in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents. We have around 6,000 people detained.
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“The legal process will continue”, Bozdag said on state-run broadcaster TRT.
A statement from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said that the two leaders – who recently patched up relations following Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane – also agreed to meet face to face next month.
Latest data suggests the death toll has reached 265, of which more than 100 were civilians and the rest are said to be soldiers backing the failed coup. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. would consider extradition – if Turkey’s government could prove Gulen’s role in the failed uprising. “I don’t think that at this time, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey”.
Prayers are being read simultaneously from Turkey’s 85,000 mosques at noon to rally the country to defend its democracy and honor those who died in an attempted military coup.
The crackdown is however not restricted to the military and Anadolu said that prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for a total of 2,745 judges and prosecutors across Turkey.
The botched coup bid marked the biggest challenge to Erdogan’s rule in 13 years as prime minister and now president.
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The coup attempt appears to have boosted Erdogan’s popularity. But he successfully mobilised supporters into the streets to face down the plotters.
