The dismissals touched every aspect of government life.
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Turkey’s higher education council also banned academics from work trips abroad and urged those overseas to quickly return home. Tens of thousands of people have been fired or suspended so far. Turkey’s Family and Social Policy Ministry said it dismissed 393 personnel.
The president’s decision came following a meeting with his Cabinet ministers and top security advisers. Dozens of others were still being questioned. At least 264 people are reported to have died in the clash that stretched into Saturday, but was thwarted as Mr. Erdogan’s supporters took to the streets.
The pro-government death toll in the botched coup was 246.
Turkey has widened its massive post-coup purge from the military and police to the education sector to root out supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of orchestrating the attempted putsch. “And there is very strong suspicion for his involvement, for Gulen’s involvement, in this coup attempt”.
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, in more direct comments, said that in Turkey “nearly every day we are seeing new measures that flout the rule of law and that disregard the principle of proportionality”. We would like to see cooperation from the USA authorities on this issue.
Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his Government had sent four files to the United States in a bid to secure the extradition of a man Ankara brands a “traitor”.
Anadolu Agency said yesterday those formally arrested include former air force commander Gen. What does the failed coup mean for the coalition against ISIS engagement in Syria? No reason was given for the detention.
ANKARA/PARIS – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sweeping crackdown on opponents may leave him exposed in the face of other mounting threats. The demonstrators amassed in the conservative district of Fatih and demanded the death penalty for those responsible for the failed coup. It does not cover offenses “of a political character”, although it does cover “any offense committed or attempted against a head of state”, the treaty says. The Turkish currency dropped 1.8 percent against the USA dollar Wednesday, trading at a low for the year of just over 3 lira to the dollar. Turkey’s opposition parties have united against the coup attempt, condemning it in the harshest terms and underscoring their determination to preserve democracy and the rule of law in Turkey. The bank’s Monetary Policy Committee said it has reduced its overnight marginal funding rate from 9 percent to 8.75 percent. In testimony published by the Hurriyet newspaper, an infantry lieutenant-colonel said the coup plotters had tried to persuade military chief Hulusi Akar, who was being held hostage, to join the effort to overthrow Mr Erdogan but he had refused. “If I stayed (in Marmaris) 10, 15 minutes more, I would either have been killed or kidnapped and taken away by them”. “But we have started”, a senior Turkish police official told AFP at the scene, surveying the extent of the damage.
He told supporters: “You can not put aside the people’s demands”.
“This measure is in no way against democracy, the law and freedoms”, Erdogan added.
The Justice Department and other US agencies are now reviewing the documents and will take action in accordance with a decades-long treaty between the two countries with respect to the extradition of criminals, the White House said. They may also include new evidence that has emerged from the current investigation. Kurtulmus said an extradition request will follow.
Human rights group Amnesty International has warned the purges are being extended to censor media outlets and journalists, including those critical of government policy. “No country can become an European Union state if it introduces the death penalty”.
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The coup attempt, which was launched late Friday night in Turkey, was eventually crushed by Turkish forces loyal to Erdogan.
