“Citizens have to defend themselves against the “most insidious and vile coup attempt in the history of the Turkish people, ” Erdogan said”.
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“They are all working together as to what might be done, and… within a very short amount of time a new structure will be emerging”. But don’t get carried away with retribution to the extent of making Turkey’s democratically ruled friends feel obliged to take steps against Mr. Erdogan and his government.
Thousands of Turks gathered on Thursday night on a bridge in Istanbul to denounce a failed coup attempt that killed at least 242 people and wounded 1,440 others last week.
Steinmeier said it’s important that “the rule of law, a sense of proportion and commensurability are preserved” and that it’s in Turkey’s interest to “keep the state of emergency only for the duration that is absolutely necessary and then immediately end it”.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini also warned on Thursday against using democratic institutions to undercut human rights in response to the thwarted coup.
Emergency measures must respect Turkey’s obligations under global law, should not discard hard won freedoms and human rights safeguards, and must not become permanent.
“What we’re seeing especially in the fields of universities, media, the judiciary, is unacceptable”, she said, apparently referring to detentions and dismissals of teachers and judges, bans on travel for academics and the detainment of journalists.
A state of emergency has never been declared nationwide although it was declared in Turkey’s restive, Kurdish-dominated southeast between 1987 and 2002.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party, CHP, slammed the state of emergency move as going too far.
Turkey’s deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek reassured the public there would be no “torture or curfews”. “I’m confident Turkey will come out of this with much stronger democracy, better functioning market economy & enhanced investment climate”.
Borshchevskaya also translates a statement from Ruslan Pukhov, the director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, given to the Russian publication Kommersant, in which he states “Erdoğan will have neither the energy nor resources to help pro-Turkish oppositionists in Syria”.
The Facebook post, utilizing a rather biting tone, called into question Erdogan’s ability to “differentiate between a revolution where 30 million Egyptians requested the military’s help and the standard definition of what a coup is”.
“We will continue the fight… wherever they might be”.
It said that the arrest has anxious many of Turkey’s Western allies, adding that they see Turkey going down an increasingly authoritarian road.
Turkey has demanded their return to stand trial for alleged participation in the coup attempt.
Austria has summoned Turkey’s ambassador for explanation about Ankara’s possible links to recent Turkish protests in Vienna and a widening crackdown following Friday’s coup attempt.
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Erdogan announced a Cabinet decision to seek the additional powers, saying the state of emergency would give the government the tools to rid the military of the “virus” of subversion.
