Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of more than a million people in Istanbul on Sunday that he would approve the death penalty if parliament voted for it, following last month’s failed coup. European Union officials have said a reintroduction of capital punishment would put an end to Turkey’s prospects of joining the bloc.
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Turkey’s government launched a sweeping crackdown targeting followers of US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of behind the coup attempt by renegade soldiers within the military.
Mr Gulen – an ally of Mr Erdogan in the early years after his Islamist-rooted AK Party took power in 2002 – denies the charges and has denounced the coup, which came at a critical time for a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation “frontline” state facing Islamist militant attacks from across the border in Syria and an insurgency by Kurdish rebels.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim appeared briefly on stage in Istanbul before the start of the rally, waving to the crowds after opposition party leaders arrived and shortly before Erdogan appeared with his wife, Emine Erdogan, on stage.
Opposition leaders were invited to address the massive crowd, with the exception of the pro-Kurdish HDP party.
From the outset all parties in parliament opposed the coup, which left at least 260 people dead and prompted the government to announce a state of emergency.
Since July 15, more than 70,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and education have been detained or suspended for alleged links to Gulen’s movement.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday that Putin and Erdogan’s discussions would include the revival of projects such as the natural gas pipeline and Russia’s contract to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
The Turkish-American National Steering Committee (TASC) in Saturday’s one-page New York Times advert said: “Because defending democracy in Turkey is also defending democracy in the US and in the world”.
The issue of a reinstated capital punishment was raised in the wake of the failed bid on July 15 but has sparked concern in the West.
Erdogan has moved to consolidate power since the coup attempt, shutting down scores of media outlets, placing the military more firmly under the control of the civilian government and firing more than 3,000 members of the military.
Erdogan has publicly named the cleric Fethullah Gulen, living in exile in Pennsylvania in the U.S.as the architect of the coup.
Erdogan also reiterated his willingness to reinstate the death penalty as part of a post-coup realignment of the country’s laws.
The event kicked off with a minute of silence for those killed while opposing the coup, followed by the Turkish national anthem and a recitation of prayers.
The “Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally” is the climax of three weeks of nightly demonstrations by Erdogan’s supporters around the country.
No official crowd figure was provided, but Turkish media said millions attended.
“I will stand on the side of Turkey against traitors and centers of hostility”, the leader of the opposition’s National Movement Party (MHP) party wrote in a tweet re-tweeted by Erdogan. Sunday’s rally was to have been the last, but Erdogan said the end would be Wednesday.
Criticising the response of Washington and European leaders to the attempted putsch, Erdogan said the Turkish people had been abandoned by the West.
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Turkey has accused the reclusive Gulen of masterminding the coup attempt, which was led by a rogue faction in the military.
