Biden acknowledged Turkey’s expectation regarding the extradition request during a telephone call to Yildirim and said the USA would continue to support its ally, according to prime ministry sources.
Advertisement
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the presidential guard regiment will be disbanded, the Anadolu news agency said on Saturday citing the Turkish NTV channel.
Yıldırım said the number of detainees now stands at 13,002, including 1,329 policemen, 8,831 military officials and 2,100 judges and prosecutors.
“There will no longer be a presidential guard, there is no objective, no need”, he said in a televised interview with A-Haber TV.
During the interview, Yildirim said Turkey does not plan to extend the emergency rule beyond a period of three months, but will do so if necessary.
Turkey’s government said the attempted coup was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary, forming the so-called “parallel state”.
“These people are terrorists but also they are sick terrorists because they abuse Islam”, he said.
He added that he had been informed by his bodyguards about the coup attempt just 15 minutes before it was launched.
A coup was attempted by the military almost a week ago in an attempt to overthrow the government.
Advertisement
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the measure was being taken to counter threats to Turkish democracy and wasn’t meant to curb basic freedoms.
