“This must be done in accordance with Turkish and global law”.
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Erdogan, who has led Turkey as prime minister or president since 2003, has vowed to clean the “virus” responsible for the plot from all state institutions.
Erdogan is taking a hard line, saying he will consider supporters’ calls to reinstate the death penalty, a move that would defy global rights conventions and perhaps irrevocably shatter Turkey’s hopes of joining Europe as a full partner. As such, numerous arrested have been charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group or “attempting to overthrow the government of the Turkish Republic using force and violence or attempting to completely or partially hinder its function”, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Cracking down on alleged subversives in education, Turkey also said Wednesday that it would close more than 600 private schools and dormitories following the attempted coup, spurring fears that the state’s move against perceived enemies is throwing key institutions in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally into disarray.
“I would like to underline that the declaration of the state of emergency has the sole goal of taking the necessary measures, in the face of the terrorist threat that our country is facing”, he said, vowing that the “virus in the military will be cleansed”. Most importantly, more than 17,000 teachers, administrators, social workers and university deans were suspended over claims they support Fethullah Gulen, Anadolu reports, with the crackdown expanding to the laying off of hundreds of people working in government positions and with the religious affairs office.
“We are on the same page”.
Simsek said there will be proper judicial review, but didn’t elaborate.
“It was certainly an expression of concern about this group and its presence in Canada, and an invitation for us to work with them on that. We will never step away from it”, he said.
Erdogan’s spokesman said on Tuesday the government was preparing a formal request to the United States for the extradition of Gulen.
Pickerill declined to provide further details. “But there’s also a large segment of the population that’s kind of proud they faced down a coup”, Peter says.
Metin Kadir, a resident of the capital, Ankara, said a state of emergency is the right move and declared: “I hope this country unites and is at peace again”.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, flanked by allied foreign ministers, said that while “we condemn this coup”, it was important that the response to it “fully respects that democracy that we are supporting”.
“We will remain within a democratic parliamentary system”.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim pledged to supply USA authorities with evidence linking the coup attempt to Gulen, who has been exiled in Pennsylvania since the late 1990s.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers sent a letter to the Turkish embassy in Ottawa, calling for an end to a crackdown on educators, and the reinstatement of all those fired.
Over 20,000 people have been dismissed from their jobs in state education and a similar number in the private sector have been stripped of their licences.
The education ministry said it chose to close 626 private schools and other establishments that are under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
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Officials have raised the death toll from the violence surrounding the coup attempt to 240 government supporters.
