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TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP Tayyip Erdogan has declared a three-month state of emergency, vowing to hunt down the “terrorist” group behind last week’s bloody coup attempt.
He has accused followers of his arch-enemy, US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, of being behind the coup, which has led to a wave of some 50,000 arrests and sackings of suspected conspirators.
The state of emergency was needed “in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt,” Erdogan said at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Although the special measure vastly increases state security powers, Erdogan vowed there would be “no compromise on democracy”.
The announcement followed long meetings of Turkey’s national security council and cabinet chaired by Erdogan at the presidential palace.
A state of emergency gives the government extra powers to restrict freedom of movement, said an official, adding that it would not restrict financial or commercial activities as “international law sets limits of restrictions”.
In 2002, Turkey lifted its last state of emergency, which had been imposed in provinces in the southeast for the fight against Kurdish militants in 1987.
Article 120 of the constitution allows a state of emergency to be imposed “at a time of serious deterioration of public order because of acts of violence.”
‘Lesson in democracy’
Global concern has grown as Turkish authorities have arrested or fired troops, police, judges, teachers and other civil servants in the aftermath of Friday’s failed bid to seize power by rebel troops.
Earlier the Turkish leader lashed out at critics of the sweeping purge, telling France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault — who had warned Erdogan not to use the failed coup as a “blank cheque” to silence his opponents — to “mind his own business”.
“Does he have the authority to make these declarations about my person? No, he does not. If he wants a lesson in democracy, he can very easily get a lesson in democracy from us,” Erdogan said on al-Jazeera.
Earlier Wednesday US Secretary of State John Kerry said that while “we condemn this coup”, it was important that the response to it “fully respects that democracy that we are supporting”.
And German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, in more direct comments, said that in Turkey “nearly every day we are seeing new measures that flout the rule of law and that disregard the principle of proportionality”.
Erdogan in the Al-Jazeera interview insisted that the arrests and suspensions had been carried out “within the law”, adding that “of course that does not mean we have come to the end of it”.
‘Killed or kidnapped’
Erdogan was in the Aegean resort of Marmaris when the coup struck. Narrowly escaping the rebel soldiers, he flew to Istanbul where he had stayed since, appearing before huge crowds of flag-waving supporters several nights in a row.
Turkish authorities have launched an operation to find 21 commandos who are suspected of the attack on Erdogan’s hotel.
Erdogan told CNN this week his life had been in grave danger:
If I stayed (in Marmaris) 10, 15 minutes more, I would either have been killed or kidnapped and taken away by them.
The putsch left more than 300 dead and caused scenes of devastation, especially in Ankara where fighter jets and attack helicopters turned parts of parliament and the police headquarters to rubble.
The government says 312 people were killed in the coup, including 145 civilians, 60 police, three soldiers and 104 plotters.
Erdogan admitted there had been “intelligence failures,” saying he had learnt about the coup from his brother-in-law.
The government has since cracked down hard on alleged rebel soldiers, formally arresting 99 of 118 detained generals and admirals, and also placing in custody thousands of troops, with some later seen bruised and wounded.
‘Superior mind’
Ankara says the coup was masterminded by Gulen and the massive crackdown appears to be targeting individuals suspected of any connection to Erdogan’s former-ally-turned-foe.
Turkey has stepped up pressure on Washington to extradite him, sending several “dossiers” it says are packed with evidence about his alleged involvement.
In their first telephone conversation since the attempted overthrow, President Barack Obama pledged US assistance to Erdogan for the investigation into the putsch, which has threatened to once again raise tensions between the uneasy NATO allies.
Gulen issued a statement on Tuesday urging Washington to reject the extradition call and dismissed as “ridiculous” the claim he was behind the botched coup.
The 75-year-old reclusive cleric lives in Pennsylvania but retains vast interests in Turkey ranging from media to finance to schools and wields influence in various arms of the state, including the judiciary and police.
Erdogan, asked if other countries could have been involved in the coup, told Al-Jazeera: “There could be.”
The Gulen organisation has another superior mind, if you will, and the time will come when those connections will be deciphered.
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What draconian events and it now seems to be pushing Turkey further into the dark ages with this medieval response from a soon to be dictator in Erdogan. Even sadder times ahead for the World…
There must be a great level of fear among the Turkish people at present. Some going to extraordinary lengths to align themselves with Erdogan and avoid suspision of being part of the coup.
This is fear in operation…… https://www.rt.com/news/352400-turkey-coup-traitors-graveyard/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome
Yet they are still in NATO, some alliance they are having a country that has clandestinely supported Islamist rats in Syria for years and is now basically a dictatorship.
It’s all getting a bit Chairman Maoish alright. A campaign to purge disloyal officials as part of his great leap backwards instead of forward.
If so many people have been arrested now. 50.000 is the number so far. Why didn’t the coup succeed?. Makes you wonder. Was it staged.
According to Turkish Social Media posts and captions its becoming more and more obvious that the general public believe that it was all staged. The Turkish people who oppose this mad man are very worried for their families and their country.
Also I have seen a couple of posts on Turkish social media where there is a picture of some of the past Presidents of the United States and beside them a picture of a particular terrorist who came to power during their presendential term in the White House……says it all really.
Very suprising how measures have been taken so quickly, as if he has just been waiting for an excuse to show his true colors.
A dictatorship with huge Human Rights and democratic breaches , propped up by the US…that doesnt fit the narrative now does it
How is it being proped up by the US? Turkey was an ally of the US and a member of NATO long before Erdogan came to power.
The US is soft pedalling. The world has to act with strength now to stop the insanity being wreaked on Turkey. All regime members should be sanctioned. All cooperation should be stopped.
Last time teh US went out of its way to start knocking off Dictators you all called them genocidal maniacs imperialists and war mongers.
Now they do nothing you you demand the US take action.
Lol liberals be Cray
I have never had any issue with the US knocking off dictators.
Yep that worked really well with Saddam didn’t it.
It did work well with Saddam. He was toppled and his disgusting regime was over.
You may be referring to the calamity that happened after that with planning.
The country is rapidly going down the swanny. Tough decision for western nations. One one hand they have a man on the fast track to dictatorship and an Islamic state but on the other hand it’s an ally in a massively important strategic position and they have nuclear warheads. Far from black and white. Feel sorry for the many Irish with property there.
Was with you up to the feeling sorry for Irish with property. An idiotic investment in a politically unstable country.
You could say the same about people who bought houses in Ireland in the 2000′s. Doesn’t mean I can’t feel sorry for them.
They don’t have Nukes. They are part of a nuclear sharing agreement with NATO to allow the Americans to keep nukes at Incirlik which would only be given to them if required and in the direst need.
Well I guess we’re going to see bombs dropping in Turkey to rid of this dictator in future. Erdogan is doing exactly what Gadaffi done.
Has Turkey got oil? Maybe they should be liberated……not a chance for this dictatorship to join the EU now.
No oil…but it does control the Bosphorus.
There have been reports of them buying oil from ISIS
Back in the last century what is now taking place in Turkey used to be called a purge! The scenes showning what is going on in Turkey and the crowds protesting in support for the current fundemental islamic direction, remind me of Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power.
What draconian events that will push Turkey further into the dark ages with this medieval response from the soon to be dictator Erdogan. Sadder times ahead for the World…
Whilst I respect the democratic mandate I fear the worst part of this is post coup reaction will be that capital punishment will be introduced. It looks certain. He stated that the reintroduction vote will be brought before his parliament and they will decide. Cant see anyone defying him in the current circumstances. Arrest will be the probable outcome. This will change everything. I see the the intelligentsia fleeing en masse.
Yeah only starting now after a failed coup attempt. Maybe the coup wouldn’t have happened if Turkey had followed the lead from France and declared a State of Emergency in the wake of terrorist bombings. Why is no one mentioning the fact that France invoked article 15 of the European convention last year and it will continue for at least the next 6 months.
Just knew this failed coup would be a disaster. Erdogan wants to competely remove secularism now and we know where that path will end up, curtailment of liberties, free speech and a horrifically regressive society.
What only for 3 months? Adolf Hitler after the Reichstag fire brought in his emergency decree for 4 years and we know how that ended.
Well, Erdogan has put in a lot of work over the years to solidify his power whereas Hitler merely seized on an opportune moment quite early in his leadership. He probably only needs a year at most to turn Turkey into a full-on dictatorship.
I can believe that he did not stage the coup, the first thing I’d expect the leaders of a coup to do is capture or kill the current leader. There were two F16 fighters following him, I would expect them to blow him out of the sky!
@Proinsias
“Coup F-16s searched for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane, TC-ATA around Istanbul to shoot it down. According to some media reports rebel TuAF F-16s had the plane in their sights: it’s unclear whether they had a real lock-on, rather that they probably were searching the sky for the Gulfstream IV.
Furthermore, TC-ATA used a callsign THY 8456 to disguise as a Turkish Airlines airplane (Turkish’s callsign is THY) and the risk of shooting down another plane, and losing credibility too, could be a factor affecting the coup’s F-16s to shot down his plane and kill Erdogan.”
Time to create a buffer zone between Greece and Turkey. Here comes the first European Union army.
Political leader many see as a dictator declares a state of emergency and removal of those who oppose him in response to an attempted coup.. pictures show his supporters raising their right arms in air and waving red flags…. hmmmmm where have I seen this before
The EU and US have no credible argument to continue to support this dictator.
The articles in the Journal these days seem to generate a huge amount of hysteria and venom against Erdogan. The alternative though, does not appear to be any more appealing. The description in this piece of an aged reclusive Islamic cleric living outside the country who has vast interests within the State in the media, finance and schools, and has huge influence in the Turkish military and security forces, and in other government departments, makes him sound like the Turkish equivalent of Denis O’Brien. Without the religious part obviously. Given these alternatives, I might just take my chances with the elected government presently in place.
Look at what each of them stands for and then make up your mind…
You are naive Gary. He may be elected but when the last election but one did not deliver the result he wanted he deliberately created a security situation in the country to push the Kurdish party into a less favorable position. He still failed. He is an out and out shariah desiring Islamist. He has said that the courts have no authority over him, that human rights are unislamic and that only in him can the State be functional. He accepts no criticism of his policies or of his statements, has jailed children as young as 14 for comments made in class that he found objectionable and has closed down newspaper after newspaper. This coup came from disgruntled secularist military officers and has been on the cards for some time. Gulen has nothing to do with it. And he and his followers are not the alternative. Secularist democracy is. But Turkey is lost now to a neo-Ottoman megalomaniac. What is clear is that he will end his days in a sewer pipe, like Gaddafi. But Turkey is heading to civil war first.
Don’t get me wrong Hotbank, I’m not an advocate for Erdogan, and share many of the concerns expressed by yourself and others. But if the alternatives are the country ruled by a military junta (secularist or otherwise), or the creation of a religious State ruled by a charismatic if elderly Islamic Cleric, I would definitely be weighing up my options before picking either of those choices.
No THE alternative is a secularist democracy with balance of powers.
Ah Hotbank, now it is yourself that is being naive. The alternative you prefer does not exist in the country. If it was to be imposed on the Turkish people who would lead it, Tony Blair? Bill Clinton? Bertie Ahern? The options available are what I said earlier, a military junta, an Islamic Religious State or the status quo, and no amount of wishful thinking is going to change this state of affairs any time soon.
Turkey was largely democratic and secular between 1946 and 1980, albeit with some social unrest and relatively minor military interventions in 1960 and 1970 to push the Government back to Secularism. And between 1983 and 2007 it was strongly democratic and secular, with one mild military intervention to remind the Government that it had an obligation to remain secular in 1997. Only between 1980 and 1983 were the military anywhere close to the current brutality. There is the Kurdish issue of course but that is mostly misrepresented in Europe as a violent suppression of a sweet peace loving minority. In fact the PKK are a disgusting violent group who have had no hesitation in killing children, state health workers and educators, bombing infrastructure installed to improve the economy and killing more Kurds than the security forces ever killed. Plus the elders in the Kurdish community have viciously resisted secularisation and regularly call for honour killings of women and girls who defy their social order. And never ever forget that the Kurds were the main actors in the Armenian Genocide.
And who would lead this secular democracy – Meral Akşener is one possibility, Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu is another.
I wonder what would happen in Ireland if there was an attempted coup. Would the government declare a state of emergency? Would the judges hand down a suspended sentence? Is there a penalty for treason in Ireland? Before we are too harsh on Turkey let us consider what the government reaction here would be if faced with the same situation and outcome.
The numbers would be played down…….lol
They would still be looking for the file with all the names. Last seen behind a radiator.
Anyone know where this leaves the Turkey visa free travel that maniac Merkel dreamed up? We’ve seen how “progressive” over half the Turks are and having them in Europe does not seem like a great idea. They are opposed to our way of life…
Actually far more than half the Turkish population would be opposed to your way of life, Oonagh, involving as it does ignorant bigotry and hatred of others. Turkey, on the other hand, has welcomed 3m refugees from Syria and President Erdoğan has recently proposed a scheme to grant them fast track citizenship should be introduced.
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