What began as an effort to root out members of the military and security forces directly involved in the coup attempt has been extended to eliminate the Gulen movement’s influence from education, academia and the civil service by firing, detaining or suspended tens of thousands of people.
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The declining support among the Turkish public for coups was one of the reasons why last week’s attempted coup failed – in fact the leaders of all the country’s political parties were quick to condemn the attempt soon after the first military units took to the streets. Turkish lawmakers approved a three-month state of emergency that allows the government to extend detention times and issue decrees without parliamentary approval.
More than 13,000 people, including almost 9,000 soldiers, 2,100 judges and prosecutors and 1,485 police, have been detained in Turkey’s post-rebellion crackdown, according to the president.
In the latest reaction to the coup, Yildirim said Turkey would disband the 2,500-strong Presidential Guard, saying there was “no need” for the elite regiment.
A presidential official quoted by Reuters said Halis Hanci, described as Fethullah Gulen’s right-hand man, had been “captured”. The bloodiest coup took place in 1980 when 50 people were executed, 500,000 arrested and many hundreds tortured (I personally met one such person, a university professor, during a press trip to Turkey in 2005) or died in jail. Although Turkey has been accepted as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) it was mainly a response from the organization to fight back the Soviet Union during the cold war period, not because there is an actual harmony between Turkish beliefs and views and those of the Western countries.
The EU and USA must do whatever they can to maintain a close relationship with Turkey but they must remain firm in insisting on democratic behaviour by the Turkish government.
“Come here and see how serious this is!”
He added that Gulen was more risky than either the late Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or Islamic State (IS) group jihadists.
The crackdowns are part of seismic changes that have rocked Turkey since the shock of the coup attempt that claimed 270 lives.
But rights activists and opposition groups, including from Turkey’s Kurdish minority, fear a widening witch hunt of government critics.
Erdogan accuses Gulen of being behind the coup attempt and has requested his extradition from the United States. Under new emergency powers, they can be held without charge for 30 days.
A statement carried by state media also ordered the closure of more than 1,000 private schools and more than 1,200 associations.
Taksim Square, like much of Istanbul and other cities, is awash with Turkish flags and CHP supporters were also carrying pictures of their hero Kemal Ataturk, the soldier who founded the secular republic on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in an interview with Turkey’s Kanal 7 television station Sunday that anyone who suggests the coup attempt was staged likely had a role in the insurrection, which was defeated by loyalist forces and pro-government protesters.
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He also flatly rejected claims that the USA had prior intelligence of the putsch attempt, calling such suggestions “unequivocally false”.
