The coup leaders tried to block access to sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, but factions loyal to the Turkish leader appear to have blocked the effort by maintaining control over the country’s internet authority.
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Speaking at the presidential palace in Ankara, Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed that “all the viruses within the armed forces will be cleansed”. But thousands have been arrested since the coup, and 2,745 judges have been removed. Within the first 24 hours, the heads of the European Commission and Council, in line with Berlin and Washington, expressed support for the “democratically elected government”. In a statement on Saturday morning the group said that while “any coup against democracy must be condemned. our severe judgment of President Erdogan, who is responsible for anti-democratic tendencies in Turkey against political opponents, freedom of the media and human rights, remains unchanged”. -Turkish relations. The flap already called into question, briefly, whether US planes would still be allowed to fly out of Incirlik air base to strike ISIS targets in Syria.
About 10,000 people are accused of supporting the coup, and 50,000 or more accused of backing Gulen, Peter says.
But arrests may be the least of it.
Even in defense of liberal democracy, there is sometimes a case for compromise.
In recent years, Erdogan has crushed Turkey’s free expression.
On Tuesday, authorities shut media outlets deemed to be supportive of Gulen.
Journalists searching the archive have so far been underwhelmed by the email dump, finding mostly spam and personal appeals for help from Erdogan.
Around a third of Turkey’s roughly 360 serving generals have been detained since the coup attempt, a second senior official said, with 99 charged pending trial and 14 more being held.
Erdogan has also crushed all attempts to investigate wrongdoing on the part of his government.
Relations between the two allies gradually soured and broke in 2013 when Turkish prosecutors – allegedly Gulenists – brought corruption charges against allies of Erdogan, including his son.
Officials have raised the death toll from the violence surrounding the coup attempt to 240 government supporters.
A live broadcast of the Turkish president’s interview with Al Jazeera television news network was also aired on video screens installed on the square.
As if the picture were insufficiently bleak, Turkey’s strongman is also amassing power by manipulating the country’s political system.
With Erdogan arresting or detaining tens of thousands of military personnel, police, academics, and government officials – moves that have alarmed the Obama administration and other foreign governments – the Turkish leader is turning a tool that helped him stay in power against his foes.
The base, which is used by a US-led coalition fighting so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, has been without power since the coup attempt.
In short, the attempted coup was deplorable and anti-democratic.
Simsek ruled out the use of torture or curfews, but added that the government would need to “double and triple check” the central bank and Treasury for coup plotters.
Some Western leaders expressed concern that Erdogan, who said he was nearly killed or captured by the mutineers, was using the opportunity to consolidate power and further a process of stifling dissent.
“The state of emergency in Turkey won’t include restrictions on movement, gatherings and free press etc”.
The disturbing trends continue.
“As a side note, I will die one day”.
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German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned the government against extending the state of emergency beyond three months, saying this “would exacerbate tensions inside Turkey”.
