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Turkey’s saga continues as Erdogan refuses to rule out death penalty
Published
8 years agoon
By
Olu EmmanuelSpeaking through his translator, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the failed military coup a “clear crime of treason.”
The Turkish people have made it clear they want death for the “terrorists” who plotted the coup, Erdogan said in his first interview since the July 15 attempt.
“The people now have the idea, after so many terrorist incidents, that these terrorists should be killed, that’s where they are, they don’t see any other outcome to it,” he said.
“Why should I keep them and feed them in prisons, for years to come? That’s what the people say,” he said. “They want a swift end to it, because people lost relatives, lost neighbours, lost children … they’re suffering, so the people are very sensitive and we have to act very sensibly and sensitively.”
A total of 8,777 officers from the Turkish Ministry of Interior have so far been removed from office, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Among the arrested are 103 generals and admirals, a third of the general-rank command of the Turkish military.
As tanks rolled through the streets of the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, Erdogan said he addressed the nation via FaceTime because the national TV broadcast was not reaching people’s televisions.
While speaking he urged people to stand up to the military faction behind the uprising.
“Go to the streets and give them their answer.”
He added that he has “no issues” when it comes to a free press. But, if there are media outlets that sided with and supported the plotters of the attempted coup, the justice system would need to take steps, he said.
With arrests made in Turkey and eight soldiers who fled to Greece awaiting extradition, Erdogan addressed the status of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is in self-imposed exile in the United States.
Erdogan has previously blamed Gulen for the attempted coup, a claim that Gulen has denied.
A formal written request for the extradition of Gulen will be submitted within days, Erdogan said.
When asked what he would do if the United States refused to extradite Gulen, he said “we have a mutual agreement of extradition of criminals.”
“So now you ask someone to be extradited, you’re my strategic partner, I do obey, I do abide by that, but you don’t do the same thing — well, of course, there should be reciprocity in the types of things,” the President continued.
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