Ankara says the coup was masterminded by US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen and the massive crackdown appears to be targeting individuals suspected of any connection to Erdogan’s ally-turned-foe.
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President Erdogan is an Islamic conservative – who long before this failed coup was criticized for stripping away people’s democratic freedoms – locking up journalists, his rivals, and even those who dared to speak out against him on social media.
The Turkish president said his efforts to detain those involved, or suspend them from their positions, is far from over.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was accused of autocratic conduct before the insurrection, said the measure would counter threats to Turkish democracy. They will never be able to split us up.
The education ministry said the schools were under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Emergency rule, which was in force in parts of Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast until last decade, allows the government to issue decrees with the force of law and suspend rights, according to the constitution.
“In the national security council meeting, we made a decision to propose the government to declare state of emergency according to article 120 of the constitution”.
Mr Erdogan’s post-coup purge of state institutions started with the military, judiciary and police before it was extended to the education sector.
The move came after last Friday’s deadly coup attempt, which martyred at least 246 people and injured more than 1,530 others.
Warning that his opponents may launch new provocations, Erdogan has urged his supporters to remain in squares across the country in what he calls a “vigil” for democracy.
Erdogan said regional governors would receive increased powers under the state of emergency, adding that the armed forces would work in line with government orders.
July 15 attempted coup saw rogue elements of the military attack parliament, the presidential palace and other state institutions and led to the deaths of hundreds of people.
Mr Erdogan also expressed his “deepest gratitude” to citizens who took to the streets during the unrest and stayed there to show their support for his administration.
Erdoğan suggested that “9,004 people have been arrested since the failed coup”.
Courts have remanded in custody 99 out of 118 generals and admirals detained so far and also placing them in custody, with some later seen bruised and wounded.
Formal charges were also brought against President Tayyip Erdogan’s chief aide-de-camp, it said.
“Does he have the authority to make these declarations about my person?”
“For example, in the face of terrorist acts, France took numerous steps and certain stands”, he said, according to Al-Jazeera. The emergency rule was gradually lifted by 2002.
“Only acts which are legally punishable can be targeted, not political opinion”.
Erdogan struck a more conciliatory note in his comments to Al Jazeera, saying he did not want to link the issue of USA use of Turkey’s Incirlik airbase with Ankara’s request for Gulen’s extradition.
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On Tuesday, Gulen urged the U.S. authorities to reject efforts to abuse the extradition process for carrying out “political vendettas”.
