News reports said close to 2,000 special forces police officers were deployed in Istanbul to guard key installations.
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Yesterday, after thousands were arrested in Turkey, Kerry said that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the western military alliance of which Turkey is a key member, would “measure very carefully what is happening” with respect to democracy.
“If it is separated from NATO, Turkey would go into a chaos of problems”. He has shaken up the government, cracked down on dissent, restricted the media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.
“We think it’s irresponsible to have an accusation of American involvement when we’re simply waiting for their request – which we’re absolutely prepared to act on if it meets the legal standard”, Kerry said.
The Turkish labor minister said bluntly that the United States was behind the overthrow plot.
The Turkish leader was returning to Istanbul from a holiday near the coastal resort of Marmaris when at least two F-16s harassed Mr Erdogan’s plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul.
Meanwhile, warplanes are continuing to patrol Turkey’s skies, in a sign that authorities fear the threat against the government is not yet over.
Paul Gamble, a senior director at ratings agency Fitch, said the attempted coup and the authorities’ reaction highlight “political risks” to Turkey’s BBB- rating.
Turkey suspended thousands of police officers on Monday, widening a purge of the armed forces and judiciary after a failed military coup, and raising concern among European allies that it was abandoning the rule of law.
That is in addition to an “unknown number of helicopters”, Turkey expert Aaron Stein noted on Twitter.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, voiced “serious alarm” on Tuesday at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors and urged Turkey to allow independent monitors to visit those who have been detained.
Among those facing questioning this week is former Air Force commander Gen. Akin Ozturk, described as the ringleader of Friday’s foiled uprising, is among them.
Yildirim said 232 people were killed in Friday night’s violence, 208 of them civilians, police and loyalist soldiers, and a further 24 coup plotters.
The government moved swiftly in the wake of the coup to shore up its power and remove those perceived as enemies. President Erdogan made clear that he intends to do everything necessary to bring the perpetrators to justice. Nearly 30 military generals and admirals were being questioned about their suspected role in the coup. Thousands of police and military personnel have been taken off the job.
Some Turkish media had earlier quoted him as confessing to have played a prime role in the coup but later replaced this information with his denial.
Three years ago when the AK Party government began its fight against Fethullah Gulen – a cleric in self-imposed exile in the U.S., who was a close ally of Mr Erdogan for years – it began with the police department.
His philosophy mixes a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. A one-time ally to Erdogan, the Gulenists have become rivals in recent years and in May the Turkish government declared them a terrorist organization. The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges.
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US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers Turkey blames for a failed coup, shown in a still image taken from video speaking to journalists at his home in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania July 16, 2016. So far, officials have not offered evidence he was involved.
