– President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had suggested Turkey could bring back capital punishment – abolished in 2004 as part of the country’s reforms to join the European Union – in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.
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In total, 40 029 people had been detained since the coup attempt, and about half had been formally arrested pending charges. Most will be freed by the end of the week.
It alleges that the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan supports Palestinian militant group Hamas, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and “groups in the armed Islamist opposition in Syria”, all of which follow Sunni Islam, the same strand as the majority of Muslim Turks.
Citing justice ministry data obtained by Anadolu Agency, Reuters points out that “there were 213,499 prisoners in jail as of August 16, more than 26,000 above prison capacity”.
Many Western allies worry that Erdogan is giving himself, even more, power, and is using the coup as an excuse to crush dissidence.
“Where people work, mistakes can happen”, Mr Dimroth said, according to Reuters news agency. Angrily dismissing Western concerns over stability in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member, Turkish officials say they are rooting out a serious internal threat.
U.S. officials have said that the United States has a formal process for dealing with extradition requests and that Turkey must provide solid evidence of Gulen’s involvement.
Tens of thousands more people with suspected links to Gulen have been suspended or dismissed from their jobs in the judiciary, media, education, health care, military and local government.
United States officials have been cautious on the extradition of Gulen, saying they need clear evidence. US Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Ankara next week, the White House said, in the highest ranking visit to Turkey by a Western official since the coup. He has lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999, but it is not clear Ankara has yet made a formal request.
Turkey is now “the central hub for Islamist groups in the Middle East”, the ministry report said.
The claims in question are “a new indication of the distorted mindset which has been attempting to weaken our country by means of [attacking] our president and our government”, said a statement from the foreign ministry quoted by state news agency Anadolu. He also said 4262 companies and institutions with links to Gulen have been shut.
“He added, in a similar meeting, that the coup attempt was carried out by some people who didn’t want a stronger and a leading Turkey in the Muslim world”.
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More than 5,000 civil servants have been dismissed and nearly 80,000 others suspended, Yildirim said in an interview with TRT public television.
