He also said the U.S. supported Mr Erdogan’s democratically elected government and that any reports that Washington had prior knowledge of the attempted coup, or that there was any USA involvement, were completely false.
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The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Turkish president sent a letter to the head of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party Binali Yildirim, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) head Devlet Bahceli.
Many thousands of flag-waving Turks massed Sunday for the first cross-party rally to condemn the coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, amid an ongoing purge of suspected state enemies.
Turkey has shut down more than 2,000 institutions linked to Gulen. Since then, the rapid pace of arrests and sackings in Turkey has anxious many of Ankara’s Western allies.
Turkey fired or suspended 50,000 people from the country’s institutions and security forces last week.
Erdogan, a popular but polarizing figure who has dominated Turkish politics since 2003, declared the state of emergency late on Wednesday, saying it would enable authorities to swiftly and effectively root out supporters of the coup.
Juncker also said that if Turkey reintroduces the death penalty – something the government has said it must consider, responding to calls from supporters at public rallies for the coup leaders to be executed – it would stop the European Union accession process immediately.
On the night to July 16, a group of insurgents took an abortive coup attempt in Turkey. Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz said the new teachers will replace state educators who have been dismissed as well as teachers in private schools with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen, a US -based cleric who has denied Turkish accusations that he directed the coup attempt that killed about 290 people.
Last week’s deadly coup attempt occurred when rogue elements in the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country’s democratically-elected government.
The state of emergency, which was approved by the Parliament on Thursday, allows the government to pass laws without first having to win parliamentary support.
“The Americans were silent up until the moment when State Secretary John Kerry called for ‘continuity within Turkey.’ In other words, they were counting on the coup to be successful”. Government officials said 1,200 were released Saturday.
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“The cover says this isn’t a battleground for Erdogan or Fethullah Gulen – this is our country”, said the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Zafer Aknar.
