Fethullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile Saylorsbug since 1999, denies any involvement in the failed coup, in which at least 246 people were killed.
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Working furiously to consolidate his power after surviving a coup attempt last week, Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan has closed thousands of private schools, unions and charities.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday called for Erdogan’s government to restrain itself in the wake of the failed coup, saying it should end a three-month state of emergency as quickly as possible. Halis Hanci, who was taken into custody in northern Turkey, entered the country two days before the military coup attempt, the source said.
More than 13,000 people, including almost 9,000 soldiers, 2,100 judges and prosecutors and 1,485 police, have been detained, according to the president.
Erdogan said that the soldiers who participated in the coup would “pay a heavy price for their treason”.
Suspects in Turkey can now be detained for up to 30 days without charges and the government can listen in on all conversations they have with their lawyers under a decree issued by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Resmi Gazette, an official government publication.
The state of emergency decree may suspend freedoms and rights of the Turkish population in an attempt to reduce and control any subversive movement or critics against the Erdogan’s government which maintains restrictive – and undemocratic, as some deem- policies that have generated social discontent.
CHP officials are estimating a million people will attend tonight’s rally, which is aimed at showing a united front against the attempted coup staged by factions within the Turkish military.
“We should always take political Islamist threats seriously, because they do as they say”, Aknar says.
Turkish authorities have already launched a series of mass purges of the armed forces, police, judiciary and education system, targeting followers of Mr Gulen, who operates an extensive network of schools and charitable foundations.
Ankara’s pressure on Washington to extradite Gulen has fueled speculation that US access to the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, a key launching position for the USA led coalition against ISIL in both Syria and Iraq, could be restricted.
Nearly 300 of its officers have been detained after some of them forced TV news presenters to read statements stating that martial law had been declared during the abortive coup attempt.
It also detained a nephew of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, state-run media reported, the first time one of his relatives has been apprehended in the current crackdown.
The failed coup d’état has been an opportunity for Erdogan to adopt oppressive measures in detriment of Turkish people’s welfare and rights.
“European countries apply the state of emergency in events with less importance compared to what lately happened in Turkey”, he said. “We have to rid our institutions of this cancer”, he stressed at the same time, referring to Gulen’s supporters.
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Zuhal Tolbert, 56, who is retired, said the government should be more inclusive.
