The Turkish president blames USA -based cleric Fethullah Gulen as the instigator of the botched coup and he’s moved swiftly against Gulen supporters in his country’s institutions.
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Authorities have rounded up about 9,000 people – including 115 generals, 350 officers, 4,800 other military personnel and 60 military high school students – for alleged involvement in the coup attempt. “Maybe it will be recognized as such as long as the proper procedure is followed we are not anxious”, Spokesman and adviser for Fethullah Gulen Alp Aslandogan said.
Yildirim said the justice ministry had sent a dossier to USA authorities on Gulen, whose religious movement blends conservative Islamic values with a pro-Western outlook and who has a network of supporters within Turkey.
The 75-year-old reclusive cleric lives in Pennsylvania but retains vast interests in Turkey ranging from media to finance to schools and wields influence in various arms of the state, including the judiciary and police.
The organization had reported late Monday night that it had come under a sustained cyberattack after announcing on social media its plan to leak hundreds of thousands of documents on “Turkish power”.
The education ministry said it chose to close 626 private schools and other establishments under investigation for “crimes against the constitutional order and the running of that order”, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Turkey detained an alleged ringleader of the failed coup and sought the extradition of its alleged mastermind from the USA, according to news reports Tuesday, amid widespread dismissals in state institutions.
Access was restricted because of a “violation of privacy and publication of illegally obtained data”, a Turkish official told CNN.
Ankara says the coup was masterminded by Gulen and the massive crackdown appears to be targeting individuals suspected of any connection to Erdogan’s former-ally-turned-foe.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has promised Washington ample evidence linking Gulen to the coup attempt, but asked why the U.S. is demanding so much proof. The US Department of Justice has not confirmed that an official extradition request has been filed. When you didn’t bother looking for proof for bin Laden, why are you demanding evidence for Fetullah Gulen when the evidence is clear as day? “We need to improve our fraternity”. 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.
Any extradition request would face legal and political hurdles in the United States.
Gulen issued a statement on Tuesday urging Washington to reject the extradition call and dismissed as “ridiculous” the claim he was behind the botched coup.
More than 9,000 people are now in detention and are under investigation over the coup, according to Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus.
Around 1,400 people were wounded as soldiers commandeered tanks, attack helicopters and warplanes, strafing parliament and the intelligence headquarters and trying to seize the main airport and bridges in Istanbul.
The state of emergency status will see a huge shift of power to Erdogan, who can take over all of the Prime Minister’s responsibilities, should he wish to do so.
He also stressed that the cleric is entitled to certain rights by law. The pro-government tabloid Gunes also said that western countries were silent while the challenge to the government was under way.
Capital punishment was abolished in 2004 as part of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union.
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But in the aftermath of the coup, Erdogan has repeatedly called for parliament to consider his supporters’ demands to apply the death penalty for the plotters. “If he wants a lesson in democracy, he can very easily get a lesson in democracy from us”, Erdogan said on al-Jazeera.
