Following the failed coup, the calls for restoration of the death penalty for the coup plotters echoed at the pro-government rallies held across the country over the weekend.
Advertisement
Anadolu published pictures of the arrest of former air force commander Akin Ozturk bent forwards, facing a wall with hands tied behind his back. Gulen sought protection in the USA more than a decade ago after denying charges that he was behind a previous coup plot.
On Friday night, a faction of the Turkish military tried to force President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from office in a failed coup. He added that it would be up to parliament to decide. The government said a total of “8,777 personnel were dismissed from their duties” including governors, civil inspectors, and legal advisers.
The rebellion from elements within Turkey’s military was quashed by loyal government forces and masses of civilians who took to the streets. The top brass did not support the coup.
“We will certainly support bringing perpetrators of the coup to justice but we also caution against a reach that goes well beyond that”, said Kerry.
With a cracked voice and tears, he repeated a question his grandson had put to him: “Why are they killing people?” “After military coups in Turkey”, he said, according to The Guardian, “I have been pressured and I have been imprisoned”.
As Western officials expressed alarm at the rapid roundup of so many by their key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, Turkish government officials explained that the plotters in the military had been under investigation and launched their ill-planned operation out of panic.
– How has the government reacted?
The United States and Europe urged Turkey to respect democracy and human rights as a purge of alleged supporters of a failed plot to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified Monday.
He is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through supporters within the Turkish state and is the main suspect in two investigations launched by Istanbul prosecutors, according to judicial sources speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
“There is a clear crime of treason and your request can never be rejected by our government”, Erdogan said in an interview with CNN at his presidential palace in Istanbul, his first with a foreign media outlet since Turkey was plunged into a coup attempt on Friday night and early Saturday morning.
US officials have said that the USA will consider extraditing Gulen, if the Turkish government offers evidence that he was involved in the plot or committed crimes. He said at the USA would first need to see “evidence, not allegations” of Gulen’s responsibility.
“At this stage there could even be a questioning of our friendship”, Yildirim added.
The first 48 hours after Friday evening’s failed coup d’etat in Turkey has seen the launching of a massive crackdown on anyone even suspected of being involved, with some 6,000 from the military already detained in relation to the attempt, including the commander of the Incirlik Air Base, where USA troops and a substantial number of United States nuclear arms are stationed.
Earlier, Mogherini said, as European Union foreign ministers met, that the “rule of law has to be protected in the country, there is no excuse for any steps that take the country away from that”.
Advertisement
“Today we will say together with ministers that obviously doesn’t mean that rule of law and the system of checks and balances in the country does not count”.
