Turkey’s president has declared a three-month state of emergency following a failed coup.
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After a cabinet meeting to discuss plans to stablilise the country, President Recip Tayyip Erdogan gave a live television address, where he said he would work as President and Commander in Chief with armed forces to cleanse a “virus” from the military.
In the days since the coup failed, Turkey has intensified a sweeping crackdown on the media, the military, the courts and the education system following an attempted coup, targeting tens of thousands of teachers and other state employees believed to have links with Gulen for dismissal.
The schools are linked to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who set up a network of schools across Turkey to promote his teachings. A further 492 people were removed from duty at the Religious Affairs Directorate, 257 at the prime minister’s office and 300 at the energy ministry.
In addition to its moves against private teachers, Turkey has already announced the firing of 15,200 workers at state schools, demanded the resignations of 1,577 university deans and halted all foreign assignments for state-employed academics.
More than 50,000 civil service employees, including police, judges and the military, have been fired since the coup, the AP reported.
In a sign of how shaken Turkey’s leadership has been by the coup attempt, with dozens of generals arrested as well as Erdogan’s aide de camp, government ministers and top officials have not been briefed in advance of the meetings.
In the immediate aftermath of Friday night’s coup attempt, Turkish news outlets were heaped with praise by officials for remaining “patriotic” and staying on air, even broadcasting as soldiers stormed their premises.
The White House said Obama and Erdogan spoke by telephone on Tuesday.
Ayrault had called for maintaining the rule of law in Turkey in the wake of the coup saying “this is not a blank cheque for Mr Erdogan” to silence critics. The Turkish official assured Carter that Turkey remains a determined and committed partner and ally in the fight against terrorism.
Gulen issued a statement on Tuesday urging Washington to reject the extradition call and dismissed as “ridiculous” the claim he was behind the botched coup. In Washington, the State Department confirmed that Washington did receive some “materials” from Ankara, but that it is working with the Justice Department to review and analyze “whether they constitute a formal extradition request”.
Turkish authorities have largely blamed the coup attempt on U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen continues to exert considerable influence in Turkey, with supporters in the media, police and judiciary.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the measure is being taken to counter threats to Turkish democracy and insisted it wasn’t meant to curb basic freedoms.
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Erdogan in an Al-Jazeera interview insisted that the arrests and suspensions had been carried out “within the law”, adding that “of course that does not mean we have come to the end of it” – also voicing concern that the failed putsch may not have been “the end of coup attempt”.
