US-based Turkish cleric facing extradition over botched rebellion claims president orchestrated plot to justify a clampdown on civil rights
Fethullah Gulen, who was a former key ally of Erdogan has been blamed by the politician of using his contacts to develop a 'parallel structure' to overthrow the state.
In response to the attempted rebellion, Turkish authorities have detained 2,745 judges and prosecutors whose loyalty to the regime has been questioned.
Also, some 2,839 soldiers - including the head of the Third Army Corps in Istanbul, General Erdal Ozturk - have been arrested.
"A Gift From God" - Erdogan Arrests 6,000 In Historic "Systemic Purge"
At a rally late on Saturday, his supporters demanded that the coup leaders be executed. "Let's hang them!" chanted the crowd in Ankara's central Kizilay square. Erdogan told them that parliament may consider a proposal to bring back the death penalty, which has been abolished. Crowds chanted "Fethullah will come and pay," ''Allah is Great" and "We want the death penalty."
Ironically, Erdogan said that in democracies, "you cannot push the wish of the people to one side" but also said "we are not after revenge."
The cleric, whose movement is labelled a terrorist group by Turkey, has denied any involvement in the coup effort. Yesterday, in an interview with the FT, Gulen accused Erdogan of staging the coup himself.
Whether or not that is true, the aftermath is clear: Erdogan has a green light to arrest virtually anyone he considers a remote threat, starting with the army and the judicial, and is doing just that.
The Turkish government has accelerated its crackdown on alleged plotters of the botched coup against Erdogan, issuing dozens of arrest warrants for judges and prosecutors and detaining military officers.
Already, three of the country's top generals have been detained, alongside hundreds of soldiers. The government has also dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send the conspirators to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. At least 265 people were killed and over 1,400 were wounded. Government officials say at least 104 conspirators were killed.
Earlier today, Turkey's justice minister said some 6,000 people have been detained in a government crackdown on alleged coup plotters and government opponents. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says in a television interview that "the cleansing (operation) is continuing. Some 6,000 detentions have taken place. The number could surpass 6,000."
Bozdag also said he was confident that the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey. The U.S. says it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Gulen, and judge accordingly. Bozdag says "the United States would weaken itself by protecting him, it would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey."
But the best news of all for Erdogan is that he now has the full popular support to enforce a historic crackdown on all oppositions. Chanting, dancing and waving flags, tens of thousands of Turks marched through the streets into the wee to defend democracy and support the country's long-time leader after a failed military coup shocked the nation.
Credit to Zero Hedge and dailymail.co.uk
