President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has made thousands of arrests following a failed military coup attempt in the country last week.
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Turkish security forces are still searching for some of the soldiers involved in the coup bid in various cities and rural areas but there is no risk of a renewed bid to seize power, a senior security official told Reuters. Thousands of police and military personnel have been taken off the job.
For an alleged offense by Gulen to qualify as political, “he has to say, essentially, ‘I’m not being accused of a crime but I’m being accused because I’m an enemy of the government, ‘” said Ronald Hedges, a former US magistrate judge who presided at extradition hearings.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini noted that Turkey was a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, which bans capital punishment across the continent.
While he recognized the need to apprehend the coup plotters, Kerry said: “We caution against a reach that goes beyond that”.
The official said Turkey’s military command had been dealt “a heavy blow in terms of organisation” but was still functioning in coordination with the intelligence agency, police and the government.
Kerry added that Turkey must “uphold the highest standards for the country’s democratic institutions and the rule of law”.
“Reintroduction of the death penalty would prevent successful negotiations to join the European Union”, said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a position echoed by his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in less direct terms.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said Sunday that he was confident the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey for his alleged role in the coup plot.
U.S.-based cleric accused of orchestrating Turkey’s abortive coup may be able to remain in the United States for years even if Turkey asks for his extradition, lawyers with experience in extradition proceedings said.
“I have no concerns personally”, Gulen said in an interview with several media outlets including AFP in the Pennsylvania town of Saylorsburg he has called home since 1999 under self-imposed exile. Members of the armed forces took control of Turkish state TV, declaring martial law.
“In our assessment, this group acted out of a sense of emergency when they realized that they were under investigation”.
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Over the weekend, Turkey responded to the coup attempt by rounding up some 6,000 people, including hundreds of judges and prosecutors. “There was a list of people who were suspected of conspiring to stage a coup”, the official said.
