President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the state of emergency on Wednesday night after a coup attempt launched by a faction of the military over the weekend left more than 260 people dead and 1,500 injured.
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In parallel talks, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his Turkish counterpart discussed the importance of Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said.
Tuesday’s firings come on top of roughly 9,000 people who have been detained by the government, including security personnel, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and others. Turkey says Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, was behind the coup and has demanded his extradition.
The request for Gulen’s extradition is the latest move by the Turkish government to rein in dissent in the country. “Our response to the coup attempt has proven that our democracy is strong”, he said. Turkish television is showing frequent footage of detained suspects being walked away by authorities.
Erdogan will then at 1200 GMT chair a meeting of the cabinet, also at the palace, whose immediate vicinity was bombed during the botched coup bid. “But looking down the road, they are going to come under pressure”.
In an apparent attempt to calm fears that the military’s powers will be increased, the president said the military will be under the government-appointed governors’ command and work closely with the regional governors.
Asked about whether the government may impose curfews, Kurtulmus said: “very clearly no. This is not a declaration of martial law”.
Addressing hundreds of supporters outside his Istanbul residence, Mr Erdogan responded to calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty with the simple statement: “You can not put aside the people’s demands”.
“A person of this kind can easily be extradited on grounds of suspicion”, said the spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin.
Thousands of Turks cheered President Erdogan when he said he would let Parliament debate the issue, in the wake of the failed pusch. “If their numbers are 3,000, 5,000 or 7,000, it doesn’t matter – they will be arrested and prosecuted”. A total of 50,000 civil service employees have been fired in the purges, which have reached Turkey’s national intelligence service and the prime minister’s office.
And the list goes on.
The government says 312 people were killed in the coup, including 145 civilians, 60 police, three soldiers and 104 plotters.
What is the global community saying?
“(That) the lists are available already after the event indicates that this was prepared, that at a certain moment (they) should be used”, he said. “What we see is that this is not yet met”.
Turkey drew more criticism from European Union nations yesterday.
But UN human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned that Turkey has signed on to a binding worldwide agreement aiming to abolish the death penalty. He called for fair trials and the rule of law.
“The state of emergency gives [the authorities] a [broader] legal framework to suspend key human rights areas”, said Ziya Meral, resident fellow at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research.
But he urged that investigations and prosecution of the coup’s perpetrators “be conducted in ways that reinforce public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law”, the White House said.
How much more do we know about the coup?
Erdogan continued to laud Turkish citizens for thwarting the plotters.
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Erdogan told CNN in an interview on Monday that he could have been killed if he’d stayed another 10 to 15 minutes at the hotel where he was vacationing with his family in Marmaris, on the Mediterranean coast. One café worker curses them every day as they pass. He doesn’t like Erdogan.
