The man Erdogan accuses of orchestrating the plot against him, the reclusive 75-year-old Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, has long lived in a secluded compound in Pennsylvania, and Ankara is pushing for his extradition.
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More than 13,000 people, including almost 9,000 soldiers, 2,100 judges and prosecutors and 1,485 police, have been detained in Turkey’s post-rebellion crackdown, according to the president.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a TV channel that there was “no need” for the regiment.
A week after renegade soldiers tried to oust him with guns, tanks and F16s, Erdogan’s government has detained over 12,000 people it suspects are state enemies, including nearly 300 officers of the guard shielding his Ankara palace.
They target the followers of Fetullah Gulen, a US-based Turkish cleric who operates an extensive network of schools and charitable foundations in Turkey and overseas.
On Saturday it was reported that the Gulen’s nephew, Muhammed Sait Gulen, was apprehended in the city of Erzurum in Turkey, his uncle’s native region.
The nephew was detained in connection with the coup, which Turkey says was organised by the “Fethullah Terrorist Organisation”, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
Gulen has condemned the attempted coup and denied any involvement in it. Obama, reiterating what USA officials had said earlier this week, said he told Erdogan his government must first present evidence of Gulen’s alleged complicity in the failed coup.
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.
In a new tactic against suspected coup plotters, Turkey on Saturday announced it had seized more than 2,250 social, educational or health care institutions and facilities that it claims pose a threat to national security.
Among the 1,229 charities and foundations being shut down for their suspected involvement with the Gulen movement are 19 trade unions, 15 universities and 35 medical institutions. It said this would facilitate a full investigation into the failed coup, Reuters reported.
With such a statement, Fetzer said, the United States has “once again embarrassed itself”, as Obama’s remarks suggest that “the president himself is a turkey”.
Erdogan has accused US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has many followers in Turkey and overseas, of masterminding last Friday’s failed coup, in which at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,100 others sustained injuries. He also claimed that his supporters are being framed in what he says may have been a provocation false-flag staged by Erdogan himself.
Gulen’s presence in the United States has strained Turkey’s ties with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partner which has long stationed military forces on Turkish bases it uses to strike Islamic State jihadists in Syria.
According to the Turkish authorities, 10,410 people have been detained so far, including mainly soldiers but also police, judges, prosecutors and civil servants.
Supporters of Erdogan’s AKP, which has ruled Turkey since 2002, have generally tended to use religious symbols and rhetoric.
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“We are very surprised that our allies have not come to Turkey to visit even after one week has passed”, Omer Celik told reporters.
