Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday extended the period for detaining suspects without charge to 30 days, an official statement said.
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Erdogan declared a three-month state of emergency following a botched coup attempt, declaring he would rid the military of the “virus” of subversion and giving the government sweeping powers to expand a crackdown that has already included mass arrests and the closure of hundreds of schools.
It added 1,043 private schools and 1,229 associations and foundations will be shut down under the state of emergency.
A government official insisted the institutions targeted all have connections to the movement of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan blames for the failed putsch. Gulen denies the charge and has condemned the coup.
“Any reports that we had any previous knowledge of a coup attempt, that there was any USA involvement in it, that we were anything other than entirely supportive of Turkish democracy are completely false, unequivocally false”, Obama said during a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieta.
Muhammet Sait Gulen was detained in eastern Turkish city of Erzurum and expected to be transferred to Ankara for questioning, Anadolu news agency reported.
It allows for the president and government to pass laws without parliament’s approval.
Parliament must still approve the decree but requires only a simply majority, which the ruling AK Party founded by Erdogan and in power in Turkey since 2002 commands. “We have to assess that demand from the standpoint of law, and not according to what the European Union says”, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told broadcaster CNN Turk.
Washington has said Ankara needs to provide clear evidence of Gulen’s involvement before it can agree to extradite him. Lawyers say the process could take many years.
The military coup attempt started with soldiers taking control of key installations and announcing on state television that a “peace council” would now run the country to “reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms”. A purge of more than 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers is underway.
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On Friday, President Barack Obama said the United States (US)strongly supports Turkey’s democratically elected government, but that any extradition request for Gulen will have to go through normal channels.
