An electronic billboard displaying the face of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a rally on the streets of Kizilay Square in reaction to the failed military coup on July 17, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that other countries might be involved in July 15 coup attempt.
After surviving a coup attempt that left more than 240 dead and some 1,500 wounded, Turks are now living under a state of emergency that will last at least three months.
A state of emergency gives the government extra powers to restrict freedom of movement, said an official, adding that it would not restrict financial or commercial activities as “international law sets limits of restrictions”.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the state of emergency was aimed at averting a possible second military coup.
The response to the coup, which appears to have been orchestrated by a faction of the Turkish military, has been staggering in its breadth and ambition.
State media, meanwhile, has announced the detention of another 32 judges and two military officers, bring the number arrested to almost 10,000.
A state of emergency has never been declared nationwide although it was declared in Turkey’s restive, Kurdish-dominated southeast between 1987 and 2002.
Erdogan was already well down the path of accumulating control in the presidency, at the expense of democracy, after sliding over one seat at the end of his reign as prime minister.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says Turkey’s state of emergency should only last as long as it’s “absolutely necessary”.
Gulcan Akoguz, the Turkish charge d’affairs in Ottawa, defended her government’s ongoing investigation into the coup attempt, saying it was probing all branches of the government, not just education.
Erdogan, who had been accused of autocratic conduct even before this week’s tough crackdown, said the state of emergency would counter threats to Turkey.
He was more diplomatic on Turkey-U.S. ties, saying cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State should not be mixed up with Ankara’s demand for the extradition of Fetullah Gulen.
Erdogan was in the Aegean resort of Marmaris when the coup struck.
Simsek said that “standards of the European Court of Human Rights will be upheld”, but didn’t elaborate.
Electricity to the airbase used by the US-led coalition against Daesh has been cut off since Saturday, when a coup attempt against the Turkish government by elements of the Turkish armed forces took place.
Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated Wednesday that the USA government has made it clear to the Turkish government that it must present hard evidence of Gulen’s involvement in illegal activities if they want Gulen extradited – not just accusations and speculation.
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In other developments news, a soldier allegedly linked to the attack on a hotel where Erdogan had been vacationing during the foiled coup was arrested in southwestern Turkey, the state agency Anadolu reported Thursday.
