During the coup attempt, which lasted about 12 hours, we lived through a miniature version of this civil war with all its horrors: pro-coup soldiers clashed violently with the police, military officers opened fire on civilians, angry demonstrators lynched surrendered soldiers, military aircraft and helicopters bombed the parliament and other government buildings.
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Here is what we know about the widening purge and the violent events that prompted it.
– Who’s targeted in wake of coup?
The number of state education ministry personnel suspended has risen to almost 22,000, according to reports Wednesday.
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. Even the sports ministry has dismissed 245 employees, state media said.
In other moves against education, Turkey demanded the resignations of 1,577 university deans and halted foreign assignments for state-employed academics.
Turkey’s prime minister ramped up the pressure on the United States to extradite the US -based cleric Fethullah Gulen on Tuesday by delivering four dossiers allegedly linking the preacher to Friday’s attempted coup.
– Will plotters be executed?
But he said Canada is “especially concerned” about reports Turkey might bring back the death penalty, which it abolished 12 years ago.
The state of emergency announcement needs to be published in a state gazette and lawmakers have to approve it for it to take effect, according to analysts.
But this would rule out any chance Turkey has of joining the European Union and could see it thrown out of the Council of Europe.
It was unclear when he would be returning to the capital Ankara. “It isn’t martial law of 1990s”, he wrote on Twitter. Troops appeared on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.
“Turkey calls all our partners and allies to take all possible measures to prevent the activities of this group (on) their soil”, it said.
Soldiers in Istanbul opened fire on protesters and fighting erupted in Ankara, with planes bombing the parliament building.
While Erdogan is seeking to consolidate the power of his elected government after the rebellion, his crackdown could further polarize a country that once enjoyed a reputation for relative stability in the turbulent Middle East region.
The minister said he is not aware of any United Kingdom citizens arrested during Friday’s clashes, which MPs heard has killed more than 200 people with some 1,400 injured.
The president, who chaired a security council meeting in Ankara on Wednesday, said he had come within 15 minutes of being killed or captured by the putschists.
Turkish officials have launched a large-scale crackdown following last week’s attempted coup d’état.
It remains unclear who exactly was behind the attempted power grab.
President Obama “strongly condemned” Coup attempt and urged that the investigations and prosecution of the coup’s perpetrators be conducted in ways that reinforce public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule of law.
Erdogan has furiously pointed blame at his arch-foe Gulen, the US-based Islamic preacher whose Hizmet movement has a powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.
– How has the world reacted?
Turkey has asked the USA to extradite Gulen.
Earlier Wednesday, Dion said Canada had rebuffed the Turkish government’s requests for information on the Gulen movement in Canada.
“Polarisation of Turkey’s political landscape” and “heightened unpredictability” led the agency to downgrade the country’s sovereign credit rating by a notch.
He urged the minister to “make it clear to President Erdogan, it is not just European Union membership that’s at risk from that course of action, but North Atlantic Treaty Organisation membership as well”.
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Turkey immediately blocked access to the site.
