Erdogan clamps down on military, judiciary after failed coup

After heading off an attempted military coup, Turkey’s hardline president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unleashed a purge of his enemies in the army and judiciary.

Yesterday, in street clashes and airborne dogfights between rebels and loyalists, Erdogan’s office put the death toll at 265.

In a day of extraordinary drama that saw the putsch ruthlessly put down, about 2,800 soldiers were arrested.

Warrants were issued for the arrest of 140 Supreme Court members, while more than 2,700 judges were summarily dismissed for their alleged links to the coup’s leaders.

Though the plotters’ identity remains unclear, Erdogan pointed the finger at Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar who lives in exile in the United States.

“Mr President, I told you myself, either deport or hand over to us this person who lives in 400 acres of land in Pennsylvania”, Erdogan called on Barack Obama to extradite Gülen in a televised speech.

“I told you that he was engaged in coup plots but I was not listened to. Now again today after the coup I say it again”, Erdogan added.

John Kerry, US secretary of state, has shown full support for the Turkish administration, although he hoped Erdogan’s government would not exacerbate the situation.

“We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gülen […] and obviously we would invite the government of Turkey […] to present us with any legitimate evidence”, Kerry said.

Gülen, in a rare interview in the US, accused Erdogan of staging the coup. “I don’t believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdogan”, he said.

“There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against Gülen’s supporters].”

The attempted coup began on Friday night when a faction of the army seized airports, bridges, TV stations and military headquarters, before attacking the Turkish parliament, leaving the building charred and damaged.

Erdogan, via a video-call with a private broadcaster, fought back by sending a message to supporters, prompting them to wrest back state control with the help of the police and loyalists in the army.

The latter’s supporters promptly flooded the streets and swarmed around the tanks and troops that seemed to have seized control of Turkey.

“Turkey has a democratically elected government and president […] we are in charge and will continue exercising our powers until the end”, Erdogan told his supporters.

After the clashes in which 100 rebels were also killed, Erdogan’s Islamist-leaning government ordered the mass arrests, saying that those caught were guilty of an “act of treason” and would “pay a heavy price”.

Following the day’s events, observers in Turkey feared that Erdogan would now gain momentum to push through changes to the Turkish political system by giving him sweeping presidential powers.

Eight Turkish army personnel believed to be officers fled to Greece by helicopter, claiming political asylum. But the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said he had asked Greece to extradite the servicemen, and was told they would be returned.