Disciplinary actions extended to the judicial system Saturday as an oversight body, the High Council of Judges and Prosectors, announced that 2,745 judges had been dismissed, the Anadolu Agency reported.
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Members of Turkey’s armed forces declared hours earlier that they had taken control of the country as explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and supporters of the coup erupted in Ankara, the capital.
An official said 161 of them were mostly civilians and police officers, while the remaining 104 were coup supporters.
Turkey is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally and part of the US-led coalition fighting againt the IS.
President Erdogan has been both a tormenter of Europe and the United States as well as a key linchpin in the strategic plans of both.
In the aftermath of the coup, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blamed the conflict on followers of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who draws on a traditionally moderate branch of Islam called Sufism.
“This means it [the failed coup] will be followed by a real coup by Erdogan himself, and the last remnants of democracy will be lost”, suggested one social media pundit.
Although many Turks are disgruntled over Erdogan’s moves against civil liberties such as freedom of the press, and are fearful in the wake of a deadly IS attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport last month, the country appeared to reject the military rebellion.
Whether the coup was ultimately fact or fiction, the world has been fundamentally changed by the horror descended on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara on Friday with the advantage clearly going to the coup’s survivor.
His conservative religious vision for Turkey’s future has also alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of authoritarianism.
He also said the US military was working to adjust its counter-ISIS operations “to minimize any effects on the campaign”. It is unknown whether any of these targeted soldiers or jurists were opponents to Erdogan’s strongman form of government, but ultimately not involved in the plot at all. Turkey’s main opposition parties, too, condemned the attempted overthrow of the government.
A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations, said Turkey was preparing a formal extradition request with detailed information about Gulen’s involvement in illegal activities. That response contrasted with USA comments after the Egyptian military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi following protests against him in 2013 – at that time, Kerry said the military was restoring democracy in Egypt.
Merkel told reporters at the chancellery in Berlin on Saturday that it was “tragic that so many people paid for this coup attempt with their lives” and urged an end to the bloodshed.
After more than 2,000 people connected to the coup had been detained, Erdogan said that he vowed that those responsible “will pay a heavy price for their treason”, according the Associated Press.
In a televised speech Saturday, Erdogan called on the United States to extradite Gulen, saying Turkey had never turned back any extradition request for “terrorists” by the United States.
On Friday afternoon, the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the government and people started freaking out.
“Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force”, he said. It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.
Turkey is a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in Syria and Iraq.
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“He made clear that the United States would be willing to provide assistance to Turkish authorities conducting this investigation, but that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations”, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said.
