But the news agency has since taken the report down and his alleged involvement has been denied in reports by private news media outlets in Turkey.
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The death toll does not include the number of coup plotters killed, said to be 24 by various government officials. “We know who staged and who ran it”, he said, referring to the “parallel terrorist organisation” Turkey says is run by Gulen. Annual leave has been suspended for more than three million civil servants, while close to 3,000 judges and prosecutors have also been purged.
The death penalty discussion, but one worrisome development, is a grim harbinger of where the country could go in coming weeks and months. “The German Chancellor Merkel in a phone call said if the death penalty gets reinstated here, then that will no longer happen”.
Turkey launched fresh raids and sacked nearly 9,000 officials Monday in a relentless crackdown against suspected coup plotters, with Erdogan vowing to wipe out the “virus” of the putschists after Friday’s coup attempt, which left more than 300 dead. At a time of fear, emotion and tension, it was important for Kerry to reiterate to Erdogan to “be careful not to overreach, which has been the basic thrust of our message all along”, the official said.
“Or will they side with the Turkish people?”
Eight soldiers have sought asylum in neighboring Greece and Turkey says they must be handed back or it will not help relations between the neighbors, which have always been uneasy.
He called the putsch attempt “treason, a betrayal of the Turkish nation”.
That official downplayed tensions between the U.S. and Turkey, which have simmered over the past few years over differences on how to approach the fight against the Syrian regime and against ISIS, as well as Erdogan’s rule.
With tanks blocking key bridges in Istanbul and fighter jets flying around the capital Ankara, Erdogan appeared via iPhone on a national television channel urging Turks to resist what would have been the country’s fifth military coup in less than 60 years.
Erdogan told the crowd the barracks would serve as a city museum.
Pro-Erdogan supporters rally at Kizilay Square in Ankara on July 20, 2016.
A nationalist opposition party supported the state of emergency but other opposition politicians were uneasy.
He guaranteed all “viruses” in the armed forces would be cleansed.
Mogherini, however, was straight-forward in saying that if Turkey were to institute the death penalty, it would lose all hope of joining the EU. “However, their sentences starting with “but” did not please us at all”, he said. “No country can become an European Union state if it introduces the death penalty”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Ankara would need to provide “evidence, not allegations” against Gulen. Turkey, which accuses Mr. Gulen’s followers in the police, army and judiciary of building up a “parallel state”, is demanding that the US extradite the cleric immediately to face trial. On Saturday, Labor Minister Suleyman Soylu accused Washington of being behind the coup attempt.
Turkish officials have blamed a failed coup attempt on Gulen, who denies the accusation.
Whether a crime was “political” is often in dispute in extradition proceedings, and it is likely to be an issue if Turkey demands Gulen be sent there, lawyers not involved in the matter said in interviews.
“The rule of law reigns supreme here”. At least 294 people were killed and more than 1,400 wounded. Prayers were read simultaneously from Turkey’s 85,000 mosques at noon to honor those who died.
Erdogan blames a network of followers of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen for Friday night’s coup in which more than 200 people were killed.
He used a handkerchief to wipe away the tears and turned around as he continued to weep.
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“While it is understandable, and legitimate, that the government wishes to investigate and punish those responsible for this bloody coup attempt, they must abide by the rule of law and respect freedom of expression”, Amnesty’s Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner said.
