Turkish officials have said they believe the coup plot was launched in haste because of the planned August military council meeting, when many officers suspected of links to Gulen would have been discharged.
Advertisement
Their relatives have since denied the youths were willing participants in the coup attempt, saying they were summoned to school from vacation by commanders who duped them into taking part in the rebellion and deployed them onto Istanbul’s streets.
So far, tens of thousands of people – including police, judges and teachers – have been suspended or placed under investigation since the July 15-16 coup, which Turkey says was staged by a faction within the military loyal to the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.
On Wednesday, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the US sees “a troubling trend in Turkey where official bodies, law enforcement and judicial, are being used to discourage legitimate political discourse”, reports Reuters.
The US and European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, have both urged Ankara to exercise restraint in its crackdown on suspected Gulen supporters and to ensure those arrested have a fair trial.
However, the names include known leftists who do not share the Gulenists’ religious outlook, increasing concerns that the crackdown may be indiscriminately sweeping up people simply because they are critical of Erdogan and his government.
The Turkish military confirmed on Wednesday that 8,651 soldiers had taken part in the failed coup.
Authorities have issued warrants for the detention of 89 journalists in total.
General Staff head Hulusi Akar was held hostage for hours by the plotters, but refused to join their coup.
The MIT and the General Staff now report to the prime minister’s office.
In Greece, authorities on Wednesday postponed hearings for eight Turkish soldiers who sought asylum there after fleeing Turkey.
In addition, 1,099 officers and 436 junior officers have also received a dishonourable discharge, the decree added.
The attempted coup has also tested Turkey’s ties with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally the United States, where Gulen has lived in self-imposed exile since 1999.
Amnesty International has called for immediate access to prisoners after the coup a week ago which sparked a brutal crackdown and a three-month state of emergency.
“They were not only engaged in journalistic activity, they were engaged in activities that included the fabrication of evidence that served (the Gulen movement)”, he said.
“The investigation is continuing, there are people who are being searched for”.
The EU has also bridled at talk in Turkey-from Erdogan down-of restoring the death penalty, a move Brussels said would scupper Ankara’s decades-old bid to join the bloc.
Advertisement
Standard & Poor’s recently revised the country’s sovereign debt outlook to negative from stable and Moody’s has said it will review the rating for a possible downgrade.
