Erdogan's
revenge: Thousands arrested following coup attempt, More than 2,700 judges removed, calls for
return of death penalty, 7/16/16, WND
Even before Turkey’s
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane landed in Istanbul Friday night, he was
vowing “revenge” against those responsible for the attempted military coup then underway and since crushed.
Saturday morning, he and
his supporters wasted no time making good on his promise, arresting
conspirators, purging the judiciary and blaming the U.S.
According to Turkish
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, 2,839 soldiers and officers implicated in the
overnight coup attempt have been arrested. The overnight conflict resulted in
265 deaths, including 104 pro-coup participants, and 1,440 injured in Ankara,
the capital, and Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city.
Detained soldiers who
participated in the attempted overthrow reportedly claimed to have mistaken the
coup attempt for military exercises, the Hurriyet newspaper reported on
Saturday. “Only when people began to climb the tanks, we have understood
everything,” one detainees said.
Graphic images on social
media suggest at least one Turkish soldier who was part of the coup attempt was
beheaded when crowds of Erdogan supporters from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) rallied on the Bosphorus bridges.
The government is still
attempting to corral all soldiers who participated in the coup. The border with
neighboring Bulgaria was closed overnight to those attempting to flee Turkey.
Eight soldiers who fled to Greece in a military helicopter have requested
asylum there and Ankara is demanding their return.
Outrage against the
plotters sparked a call for restoration of the death penalty to execute those
who mutinied against the Erdogan’s government. Mehmet Müezzinoglu, ruling
Justice and Development Party’s deputy leader, said a bill would be introduced
calling for the rebels’ execution. “We will put forward a motion, which will
demand the execution of those who have been involved in the coup attempt,”
Müezzinoglu wrote on Twitter. Following his tweet, #Idamistiyorum (“I want
death penalty”) became the top trend on Twitter in Turkey.
Turkish prosecutors have
issued 188 arrest warrants for members of the country’s supreme courts. Ten
members of the Council of State, Turkey’s top administrative court, are already
in custody, according to NTV.
Earlier Saturday,
Turkish authorities sacked 2,745 judges from the bench, relieving them of their
official duties, following a meeting of Turkey’s High Council of Judges and
Prosecutors.
Throughout the chaos
Erdogan pointed the finger at his political foe and U.S. based cleric Fethullah
Gulen.
At the height of the
conflict Friday, Erdogan gave an interview, via the FaceTime app and a
smartphone, where he blamed the coup attempt on a “parallel structure,” a
Turkish code phrase for Gulen and his “Gulenist” supporters, whom Erdogan
charges, are trying to overthrow his government with secret agents embedded in
the military and the judiciary.
In a televised speech,
Erdogan called on the U.S. to extradite Gulen. Erdogan said Turkey had never
turned back any extradition request for “terrorists” by the U.S. and stressed
his nation’s joint role in fighting terrorism. “I say if we are strategic
partners then you should bring about our request,” he said.
But Gulen, who left
Turkey in 1999, has denied any responsibility for the conflict. In a statement,
Gulen said he condemned, “in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup
in Turkey.”
“Government should be
won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” he said. “I pray
to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens, and for all those currently in Turkey
that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly.”
Gulen sharply rejected
any responsibility: “As someone who suffered under multiple military coups
during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of
having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.”
But Erdogan’s charge was
echoed Saturday by Turkish Labor Minister Süleyman Soylu, who claimed
Washington was behind the attempted coup.
“The U.S. is behind the
coup attempt. A few journals that are published there [in the U.S.] have been
conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests
to the U.S. concerning Fethullah Gulen. The U.S. must extradite him,” he said.
PM Yildirim also
accused followers of Gulen, who have lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S.
for years, of being behind the plot. He warned that any country that stands by
the cleric will not be a friend of Turkey and will be considered to be at war
with the nation, Reuters reported.
U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry, visiting Luxembourg, said the U.S. was willing to consider
extradition, but Turkey would have to provide proof first.
“We fully anticipate
that there will be questions raised about Mr. Gulen,” Kerry told reporters.
“And obviously we would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to
present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny. And the
United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it
appropriately.”
Erdogan is certain to
carry out and extend his threats of revenge. Even before he was almost removed
from power, he had jailed scores of journalists and brought 1,800 criminal
cases against people accused of “insulting the president.”
Comments
This is a
mess.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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