Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks after an emergency meeting of the government in Ankara, Turkey, late Wednesday, July 20, 2016.
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President Erdogan is set to chair a meeting with the Turkish National Security Council today.
Canada has expressed sharp concerns over Turkey’s imposition of a three-month state of emergency and reports that it may reintroduce the death penalty in response to last week’s botched coup attempt.
He also pointedly rebuffed criticism from Western governments that have accused him of going too far in efforts to neutralize suspected opponents. More than 58,880 civil service employees – including teachers, university deans and police – have been dismissed, suspended, forced to resign or had their licenses revoked for allegedly being Gulen followers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says those who have been in arrested in connection with the attempted coup d’état in Turkey should be able to defend themselves in a “robust and legitimate process” in that country.
Erdogan in the Al-Jazeera interview insisted that the arrests and suspensions had been carried out “within the law”, adding that “of course that does not mean we have come to the end of it”. Parliament members from the CHP and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party opposed it.
“We call on Turkish authorities to respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right of all individuals concerned to a fair trial”, they said in the statement.
In testimony published by the Hurriyet newspaper and corroborated by a Turkish official, an infantry lieutenant-colonel said the coup plotters had tried to persuade military chief Hulusi Akar, who was being held hostage, to join the effort to overthrow Erdogan but that he had refused.
Article 120 of the constitution allows a state of emergency to be imposed “at a time of serious deterioration of public order because of acts of violence”.
Erdogan and his government accuse Gulen of masterminding the coup and have requested his extradition from the United States, where he lives in self-imposed exile.
On Tuesday, authorities shut media outlets deemed to be supportive of Gulen. Some 8,000 police officers, including in the capital Ankara and the biggest city Istanbul, have been removed on suspicion of links to the plot. But it was not immediately clear if Erdogan would back the move urged by his ally in comments to broadcaster NTV.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue in a phone call with U.S. President Barack Obama, and his spokesman said the government was preparing a formal extradition request for the cleric, Fethullah Gulen.
The central bank and the Treasury won’t be spared as the government cleans up after the attempted coup, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said at a press conference in Ankara on Thursday.
He regularly refers to Gulen and his supporters in Turkey and overseas as a “terrorist organisation”. Gulen has denied any knowledge.
The 75-year-old reclusive cleric lives in Pennsylvania but retains vast interests in Turkey ranging from media to finance to schools and wields influence in various arms of the state, including the judiciary and police.
Kurtulmus said the measures were in place “to fight against the parallel structure”, according to Anadolu.
“This is resembling the pre-genocidal periods in fascist Europe”.
“We are not leaving these squares”, said Durhan Yilmiz, an Istanbul municipality worker.
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said a U.S. court will need to be convinced by evidence of Mr. Gulen’s involvement.
