Also on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama by phone and repeated his call for the extradition of his ex-ally Fethullah Gulen, whose group the government blames for the coup.
Advertisement
For some Turks, the move raised fears of a return to the days of martial law after a 1980 military coup, or the height of a Kurdish insurgency in the 1990s when much of the largely Kurdish southeast was under a state of emergency declared by the previous government.
“The rule of law reigns supreme here”.
The White House said President Barack Obama discussed the extradition request during a phone call with Erdogan Tuesday, during which he pledged U.S. assistance in investigating the coup attempt.
Erdogan told the nation the state of emergency would last three months and that “all the viruses within the armed forces will be cleansed”.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, confirmed in an interview Tuesday that the issue of civilian oversight of the military – a matter of long-standing debate within Turkish politics – would be addressed during the series of meetings Wednesday.
The state of emergency will take into effect after approved at the parliament.
Yegin recalled claims by Turkish officials that the U.S.is behind the coup attempt, but said this allegation is not strong yet.
In a bid to calm markets roiled by the coup attempt, Turkey’s central bank cut a key interest rate to shore up liquidity in the economy.
The cleric, however, rejected all accusations that he was behind the coup attempt.
Nearly 300 people were killed and more than 1,400 wounded during the failed coup.
NPR’s Leila Fadel tells our Newscast unit that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quick to blame the influential cleric.
Mr Erdogan’s post-coup purge of state institutions started with the military, judiciary and police before it was extended to the education sector.
Erdogan struck a more conciliatory note in his comments to Al Jazeera, saying he did not want to link the issue of USA use of Turkey’s Incirlik airbase with Ankara’s request for Gulen’s extradition.
Anadolu Agency said today that those formally arrested include former air force commander General Akin Ozturk, alleged to be the ringleader of the July 15 uprising, and General Adem Hududi, commander of Turkey’s 2nd Army, which is in charge of countering possible threats to Turkey from Syria, Iran and Iraq.
When asked what he would do if the United States refused to extradite Gulen, he said “we have a mutual agreement of extradition of criminals”.
Turkish Labor Minister Süleyman Soylu, a close Erdogan associate, blamed the United States during an interview Saturday with TV channel Haberturk.
Advertisement
Also, statements made by the US Secretary of State John Kerry and the State Department regarding Turkey’s future within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military alliance are highly unhelpful. “I’m confident Turkey will come out of this with much stronger democracy, better functioning market economy & enhanced investment climate”.
