Erdogan has blamed the coup plot on US -based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, an ally-turned-foe whose network of millions of followers have built influence over decades in the military, police, judiciary and parts of the state bureaucracy.
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The witch-hunt environment that has enveloped Turkey in the wake of a failed military coup extended to the media Monday, as the government issued warrants for the detention of dozens of journalists.
Turkish authorities have launched a series of mass purges of the armed forces, police, judiciary and education system, targeting followers of Gulen, who operates an extensive network of schools and charitable foundations.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said two ambassadors, now Ankara-based, had also been removed.
Tens of thousands of Turkish civilians have also lost their jobs since July 15.
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Gulen denies the charge.
Emergency law allows the government, headed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to rule by decree for the next three months and possibly longer, as this period can he extended.
“Accusations of torture and ill-treatment are unfounded”, he said, blaming them on supporters of cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused of orchestrating the upheaval. “The situation there is so unstable that you might see Turkey journalists and academics coming across the Aegean with migrants”, said Blitz, a professor of global politics at Middlesex University in London.
“They are traitors”, Erdogan told Reuters in an interview last week.
Turkey wants the United States to extradite Gulen, while Washington has said it will do so only if there is clear evidence.
“We all need to engage in self-criticism”, said Kilicdaroglu, head of the opposition Republican People’s Party, which was close to secularist generals who used to control Turkey’s military. At least 270 people were killed on both sides.
People chant slogans and wave Turkish flags as they gather in Taksim Square in Istanbul, protesting against the attempted coup, Monday.
Separately, the authorities ordered the detention of another 47 journalists – just several days after similar warrants were issued for 42 reporters.
The attempt by elements of the military to oust Erdogan has turbo-charged efforts to restore ties between Turkey and Russian Federation that were already under way after the crisis over the downing of the warplane.
On Sunday, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to defend Turkey’s actions.
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Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Twitter that Amnesty’s allegations were false, describing them as Gulenist “slander”.
