Erdogan has said the state of emergency will counter threats to Turkish democracy.
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“In a country where our youths are killed with tanks and bombs, if we stay silent, as political people we will be held responsible in the afterlife”, Erdogan said, pointing out that capital punishment exists in several countries around the world, including the United States and China. It informed the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about a series of emergency measures that would involve the derogation of the human rights convention.
Amnesty called on authorities to protect press freedoms while they investigate the failed coup. The interior ministry sacked 8,777 employees.
Meanwhile, President Erdogan has said he believes foreign countries may have been involved in the failed coup attempt, though he declined to name any.
Turkey imposed emergency rule in the southeast of Turkey in 1987, allowing officials to set curfews, issue search and arrest warrants and restrict gatherings as the security forces fought Kurdish rebels. The emergency rule was gradually lifted by 2002.
An insurrection by some military units was launched on Friday, however it was quashed by security forces and protestors loyal to the government. Gulen vehemently denies the charge.
British MPs raised concerns that president Erdogan is using the failed coup as a “blank cheque” to round up his opponents, and urged the Government to get tough with the ruler.
Turkey’s state-run news agency says courts have ordered 85 generals and admirals jailed pending trial over their roles in a botched coup attempt.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey had sent dossiers to the United States to back up its demand for the extradition of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sworn enemy who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.
“Obviously, we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny”, Kerry said during a stop in Luxembourg.
The Turkish government has laid the blame for the coup on a movement led by a U.S-based Turkish cleric. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of the military, courts and other institutions that are now being purged. Higher courts ultimately found that the alleged plots – known as Ergenekon and Sledgehammer – were faked, but only after numerous falsely accused had languished in prison for years.
Ankara says the reclusive Gulen, who wields enormous influence in Turkey through supporters in various apparatus as well as a private school network school, hatched the plot to end Erdogan’s 13 years in power.
“While there has been global and unanimous support for the democratically elected government of Turkey in reaction to the military coup, the measures introduced today go in the wrong direction”.
Those improved relations are crucial if he wants to pursue his domestic crackdown with minimal interference from overseas, according to Matteo Villa, a research fellow at the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.
The government has promised to respond to the attempted coup with a heavy hand, making mass arrests in what is increasingly looking like a well-planned witch hunt. A total of 50,000 civil service employees have been fired in the purges, which have reached Turkey’s national intelligence service and the prime minister’s office.
The Turkish media regulation agency on Tuesday revoked the licenses of 24 radio and television channels on accusations of having links to Gulen.
Hasan Ay, a municipal worker in Istanbul, said he wanted coup ringleaders to be executed.
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In addition, tens of thousands of civil service employees, including teachers and police, have also been fired, accused of ties to the plot or suspected of links to a US -based cleric whom authorities accuse of being the behind the plot.
