Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday it would be a big mistake for Washington if it refused to extradite oppositionist Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric suspected of being behind the Friday’s failed coup attempt in Turkey.
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Kurtulmus said that the state of emergency could last for less than the declared three-month period.
Erdogan announced the state of emergency in a live broadcast in front of his government ministers after a almost five-hour meeting of the National Security Council.
Erdogan spoke following a National Security Council and cabinet meeting at the Parliament building in Ankara, which was targeted by bombing during the failed uprising on 15 July.
The Turkish government has laid the blame for the coup on a movement led by USA -based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
“Did they not detain people en masse?”
In his remarks, Erdogan recalled that Turkey gave all evidence to the USA on Gulen extradition, and that now await a decision from the United States side.
The Defence Ministry is investigating all military judges and prosecutors, and has suspended 262 of them, broadcaster NTV reported, while 900 police officers in the capital, Ankara, were also suspended on Wednesday.
European Union leaders have said that Turkey’s negotiations to join their bloc will be terminated if it brings back the death penalty, and have criticized the wave of arrests that followed the failed putsch.
Erdogan says confessions from the initial interrogations have provided new leads that will mean more arrests.
“The aim of the declaration of the state of emergency is to be able to take fast and effective steps against this threat against democracy, the rule of law and rights and freedoms of our citizens”, he said.
“Fetullah terrorist organisation had a parallel organisation within the state and every step they have taken in making the attempt and failed coup, I don’t think we have come to the end of it yet. And in the days and weeks ahead, I am sure, they have some of their own ideas and plans on how to go about their own future”.
Under the Turkish Constitution, the emergency measures allow the government to “partially or entirely” suspend “the exercise of fundamental rights and freedoms”, so long as it doesn’t violate global law obligations.
Turkey has demanded their return to stand trial for alleged participation in the coup attempt.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Thursday the state of emergency should only last as long as it’s “absolutely necessary”.
His deputy, Mehmet Simsek, said after the speech that the state of emergency would not curtail basic freedoms.
Legislators in the 550-member parliament voted 346-115 to approve the state of emergency across the country.
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Gulen has denied any role in the coup attempt, warning the Turks instead that the move could have been orchestrated by the government to purge its opponents.
