The Turkish government says those who are believed to be involved won’t be allowed a religious burial, according to Turkey’s state news agency.
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The announcement followed long meetings of Turkey’s national security council and cabinet chaired by Erdogan at the presidential palace.
Erdogan, speaking to a national television audience, said the state of emergency was not a threat to democracy.
“These people are not human”, she said of the coup-plotters.
Turkey will be able to extend detention times for suspects and issue decrees without parliamentary approval under a three-month state of emergency approved Thursday by lawmakers following last week’s attempted military coup. Since the bloody attempt on Friday that left some 230 people dead, more than 7,500 people have been detained.
Western leaders have urged Erdogan and his government to respect democratic principles and act within the law in response to talk of reviving the death penalty and heavy-handed punishments over the coup. The council is composed of top military figures and security ministers.
Gulen who lives in self imposed exile in Pennsylvania, admits having a large following in Turkey, but which Erdogan says amounts to a parallel state-cum-terrorist organisation within the country.
Access was restricted because of a “violation of privacy and publication of illegally obtained data”, a Turkish official told CNN. A court remanded 26 generals and admirals in custody on Monday, Turkish media said.
On Wednesday, using the hashtag #TurkeyPurge, WikiLeaks confirmed Erdogan’s government had ordered the site be blocked and offered users advice on proxies and IPs to use to access the site.
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a right-wing grouping and the smallest of the three opposition parties represented in parliament, said it would back the government if it decides to restore the death penalty.
“We thank our European friends for their support against the coup, however their sentences starting with “but” did not please us at all”, he said. “As the commander in chief, I will also attend to it so that all the viruses within the armed forces will be cleansed”, Erdogan said, the Associated Press reported. A further 492 people were removed from duty at the Religious Affairs Directorate, 257 at the prime minister’s office and 300 at the energy ministry.
Now a big question is “how Ataturk’s nation will live after last Friday night’s failed coup, and whether Turkey will finally yield to radical Islamism”, according to Bertoldi.
Turkish media, in rapid-fire reports, said the Education Ministry had fired 15,200 educators, while the Interior Ministry dismissed 8,777 employees and Turkey’s Board of Higher Education called for the deans’ resignations.
USA president Barack Obama discussed the status of Gulen in a telephone call with Erdogan on Tuesday, the White House said, urging Ankara to show restraint as it pursues those responsible for the failed coup.
He has accused followers of his arch-enemy, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, of being behind the coup, which has led to a wave of some 50,000 arrests and sackings of suspected conspirators. Earnest added that a decision on whether to extradite would be made under a longstanding treaty between the two countries, and wouldn’t be made by Obama.
Gulen, in a statement released Tuesday, said Erdogan “once again demonstrated he will go to any length necessary to solidify his power and persecute his critics”.
“It is ridiculous, irresponsible and false to suggest I had anything to do with the horrific failed coup”.
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He also says the conspiracy theory that Erdogan staged the coup is “nonsensical” and compared it to conspiracy theories that the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, were carried out by the US government against its citizens. Judges obviously serve a very important objective and particularly in the aftermath of an attempted coup. They’re really going far and above what’s usually involved in responding to a coup d’etat…
