He expressed “deep regret” at suggestions the death penalty could be reinstated. Other media reports said police, military police and members of the coast guard also were removed from duty.
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“Had I stayed 10, 15 additional minutes, I would have been killed or I would have been taken”, he told CNN.
Revealing new details of the night of the coup, Erdogan said the renegade soldiers were in control of the command and control towers at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport for hours before forces loyal to the president were able to regain control.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 232 people – 208 government supporters he called “martyrs”, as well as 24 coup plotters – died in the unrest.
Turkey’s government said followers of Fethullah Gulen, a 75-year-old Islamic preacher in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, in the military and other branches of government attempted the coup.
The U.S. criticized the attempted coup as it was unfolding, with Obama calling on all parties to “support the democratically elected government of Turkey”. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the US would follow procedures in a decades-old extradition treaty and called Turkish charges that the USA was harboring Gulen “factually incorrect”.
Washington has said it will consider the extradition request based on proof of criminal activity – something Prime Minister Yildirim rejected, according to remarks quoted by Reuters news agency.
A top United Nations human rights official urged Turkey to uphold the rule of law, and voiced “serious alarm” at the mass suspension of judges and prosecutors.
“There is no time to rest”, Yildirim said to cheers from party colleagues.
“At this stage there could even be a questioning of our friendship”. The coup attempt was suppressed by early Saturday.
He said seeking revenge was “unacceptable” but whoever had acted against the law would be punished.
Erdogan’s decision to allow the resumption of flights at the Incirlik Air Base, which hosts a number of US intelligence facilities and plays a strategic role in the fight against Islamic State militants, has averted an immediate confrontation between the two allied countries.
The Turkish government’s crackdown after a military coup attempt widened into a sweeping purge Monday, cutting a swath through the security services and reaching deeply into the wider government bureaucracy and political and business classes.
Turkey gave up the death penalty in 2004 as part of a programme of reforms required to become a candidate to join the EU. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said reinstating it would “in no way” be compatible with Turkey’s goal of European Union membership. Mr Kerry said North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, of which Turkey is a member, had “a requirement with respect to democracy” and would “measure very carefully what is happening”.
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Thousands heeded his words and took to squares in Turkey’s three biggest cities on Monday, the third day in a row, to show their support.
