Erdogan also announced he will request the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen [advocacy website], whom Erdogan alleges orchestrated the coup attempt, from the United States. He has condemned the abortive coup and denied any role in it.
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Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says over 7,500 suspects have been arrested over the coup attempt, explaining that more than 750 judges and prosecutors are among the detainees.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, tapes leaked in 1999 famously show Gulen urging his followers to infiltrate government institutions, and numerous Gulenists took jobs over the decades in Turkey’s police and judiciary.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters that 9,322 people were under legal proceedings in relation to the attempted coup. “But in any case, we support Turkey’s right to defend its citizens”, Toner said on Monday. The Council of Europe said it had been informed of Turkey’s decision, and that the convention will still apply, but that individual exceptions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. The media’s resistance was seen as a major contributing factor to the coup’s failure. Turkish television is showing frequent footage of detained suspects being walked away by authorities. “(The) Turkish flag can not be lowered”.
Turkey’s government has escalated its wide-ranging crackdown against people it claims are linked to plotters in Friday night’s attempted coup, sacking almost 24,000 teachers and interior ministry employees across the country. And almost 60,000 civil service employees have been dismissed.
The extradition process, which American officials have said they will look at, could determine the future of U.S.-Turkish relations.
Yildirim was speaking after meeting secular opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. It therefore makes it much easier for the state to challenge political enemies, branding them as illegitimate actors using illegal means to undermine the legitimate, democratically elected government.
“A government should not decide the hiring and firing”, he said. He called for fair trials and the rule of law.
The state of emergency will go into force after it is published in Turkey’s official gazette and will allow the president and cabinet to bypass parliament in passing new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms as they deem necessary.
The chaos has raised deep concerns about the stability of the country, home to a key base used in the US-led fight against the Islamic State group and which houses a large nuclear weapons stockpile. There, governors were able to impose curfews, call in military forces to suppress demonstration, and issue search warrants.
The education ministry said it chose to close 626 private schools and other establishments under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The lieutenant was one of about 30 soldiers said to have been involved in the attack on the hotel in Marmais.
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In Greece, a court sentenced eight Turkish military personnel who fled there aboard a helicopter during the coup attempt to two months in prison for entering the country illegally.
