The state of emergency, and the mechanisms being set up to enforce it, are aimed against the Turkish government’s bitterest enemy, a USA -based cleric named Fethullah Gulen it accuses of engineering the failed July 15 coup. Halis Hanci, described as the cleric’s right-hand man, apparently entered Turkey two days before the abortive coup.
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President Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen of building a “state within a state” and of plotting to overthrow Turkey’s government, charges the 75-year-old cleric has denied.
In this Friday, July 22, 2016 photo, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, 2nd left, inspects the damage from the fighting during the July 15 attempted coup at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey.
In an interview with France24, Erdogan accused the self-exiled cleric of being behind of the failed coup attempt which killed 246 people and injured almost 1,500 people on July 15.
The steps were just some of the seismic changes that have rocked Turkey since the shock of the July 15 coup attempt that claimed 246 lives. President Barack Obama says the US has an extradition process and has encouraged Turkey to present any evidence it has. Turkey is also demanding that the United States extradite Gulen.
But in its first major release of suspects amid global criticism of the crackdown, Turkey set free 1,200 soldiers.
Turkey says it plans to hire more than 20,000 teachers to replace those who have been fired in a purge of suspected coup plotters in schools and other institutions.
Erdogan, the authoritarian and divisive Turkish President, who according to the country’s Constitution should simply be a non-political impartial head of State – and not the head of the government – referred to the failed coup as a “gift from God” and an opportunity to “cleanse” the armed forces.
Meanwhile, Erdogan also justified the imposition of the state of emergency in Turkey, which was introduced on Wednesday by saying that it is actually aimed at supporting and strengthening democracy.
Gulen and his supporters have said the government is using the state of emergency “to solidify his power and persecute his critics”.
As well, given the coup more than 3000 soldiers have been arrested.
Mr Erdogan has also approved the extension of the period in which certain suspects can be detained to 30 days from a maximum of four days, Anadolu said.
“It is absolutely imperative that the Turkish authorities halt these abhorrent practices and allow worldwide monitors to visit all these detainees in the places they are being held”, said Amnesty’s Europe director John Dalhuisen in a statement.
In Erzincan, another province believed to be home to many Gulenists, an investigation was launched on Saturday into 263 civil servants while 45 people were arrested, Anadolu reported.
“We are very surprised that our allies have not come to Turkey to visit even after one week has passed”, Omer Celik told reporters.
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Taksim Square, like much of Istanbul and other cities, is awash with Turkish flags and CHP supporters were also carrying pictures of their hero Kemal Ataturk, the soldier who founded the secular republic on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
