• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Erdogan Vows to Rid Turkey of 'Virus' Behind Failed Coup

by Dorian Jones July 17, 2016

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is promising to rid Turkey of people involved in Friday's failed coup attempt, as authorities continued to carry out arrests of those allegedly responsible.

"At every level of government, the period of cleaning this virus will continue," Erdogan said Sunday. "Like the cancer virus, it spreads all around the government," he added.

Turkish security forces fired warning shots and made arrests near the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport, one of two international airports serving Istanbul, officials said.

There were also clashes at an air base in Konya, a major city in the central region of Turkey. "The situation is under control," an official said.

Around 6,000 people have been detained. State-run media reports an aide to Erdogan is among those detained after the coup attempt.

Erdogan said authorities will continue to pursue supporters of exiled Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has blamed for the coup attempt.

Gulen, who has been living in the United States since before Erdogan came to power, condemned the coup and denied he had anything to do with the military revolt.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag demanded on Saturday his extradition from the United States.

Minister Bozdag says Turkish authorities are accelerating arrests of people, which have included judges, military officers and soldiers. Those in custody include the commander of the Third Army Corps, General Erdal Ozturk, who could face charges of treason.

Other high-ranking military officials flew to neighboring Greece by helicopter and requested political asylum. Turkish media reports say some of those who fled are believed to be among the architects of the coup.

Speaking Sunday to people who called for the death penalty outside his home in Istanbul, Erdogan said the use of capital punishment cannot be delayed, saying "We cannot ignore this demand." Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004, but Erdogan said he would discuss it with opposition parties.

Meanwhile, thousands of people attended funerals Sunday in Istanbul and Ankara for those killed. Prayers were read simultaneously from Turkey's 85,000 mosques at noon to honor those who died.

Reports about how many people were killed in clashes during the coup attempt varied, but by late Saturday 265 were reported dead, including many civilians. Conditions remained tense in Istanbul, Ankara and some other provincial cities, and there were reports of sporadic continuing violence.

Turkish media reported intense clashes at a large military barracks outside Ankara that was believed to be a stronghold of the coup plotters.

Thousands of Turkish citizens packed Ankara's Kizilat Square, downtown Istanbul, and the coastal city of Izmir late Saturday to shout their support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government.

Crowds waved flags at the late-night rallies and chanted their determination not to let anything or anyone divide the country.

US, Russian reactions

Russian President Vladimir Putin called Turkish President Erdogan on Sunday. In a statement issued by the Kremlin, Putin expressed "wishes for a speedy restoration of strong constitutional order and stability" in Turkey. The Kremlin said the two leaders also confirmed plans to meet "in the nearest future." Turkish state media said they will meet in the first week of August.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu late Saturday, a U.S. spokesman said in Washington. Kerry stressed the need for Turkey to respect the rule of law and citizens' rights as it investigates who was involved in the coup plot.

Kerry reiterated Washington's support for the democratically elected government in Turkey, but his spokesman said the top American diplomat also told his Turkish counterpart "that public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to ... bilateral relations."

The U.S. State Department has also issued a statement warning Americans against travel to Turkey.

Authorities in Turkey said 2,745 judges had been suspended in the wake of the coup attempt – most if not all of them because of alleged links to Gulen. Turkish media also reported that 140 arrest warrants had been issued for members of Turkey's Supreme Court.

The U.S. Defense Department said Turkey closed its airspace to military aircraft following the coup attempt and cut off electrical power to NATO's Incirlik Air Base, home to many U.S. warplanes involved in combat operations against Islamic State militants in Syria. A former senior U.S. diplomat who now lives in Turkey, Matthew Bryza, said this appeared to be a pressure tactic aimed at forcing the United States to hand over Gulen.

"President Erdogan issued a statement saying any country that doesn't help in bringing Mr. Gulen to justice is an enemy of Turkey. Well, he has only one country in mind – the United States," Bryza told VOA.

Kerry said earlier Saturday that any extradition request from Turkey for Gulen's extradition would be judged on the basis of whatever solid evidence of Gulen's wrongdoing Turkey might provide.

Gulen went to the U.S. in 1999 to flee harassment by a former secular government in Turkey that was dominated by the military. He and Erdogan were close allies then, and they remained close for years after Erdogan became prime minister in 2003, but they fell out a few years ago after the Turkish leader assumed the presidency and came under increasing criticism for his autocratic policies.

A former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, told VOA's Georgian service he was very concerned Erdogan might use the attempted coup as a pretext for becoming more authoritarian than he has been.

"Erdogan, who has already shown some very strong anti-democratic tendencies before the coup, will use the coup plot and the attempt of the generals to take power as a justification for cracking down on society even more. And I think we may see a more restrictive environment for Turkey – less press freedom, less political openness," Volker said.

VOA's National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin, White House Correspondent Mary Alice Salinas, VOA's Turkish service, VOA's Georgian service, and reporters Ken Schwartz and Isabela Cocoli were among those who contributed to this story.