208 people martyred during coup attempt: Turkish PM

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says 208 people lost their lives in the July 15 military coup attempt, while 7,500 people were detained in connection with the attempt.

“There are 208 people who have been unfortunately martyred in this coup attempt: 60 of them police officers, three of them soldiers and 145 civilians are our hero martyrs”, he said.

As many as 316 of them were arrested.

“Banks will be allowed to place foreign exchange deposits as collateral without limits for necessary Turkish Lira liquidity”, said the bank, adding that its current foreign exchange deposit limits of around $50 billion may be increased and utilization conditions (collateral and cost) may be improved if deemed necessary. Among them are 100 policemen, more than 6,000 military, 755 judges and prosecutors and 650 civilians.

Yildirim also addressed the issue of the possibility of the death penalty for coup participants.

“The demands of the people can not be overlooked in democracies”.

On Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also remarked on the reinstatement of the death penalty. “We do not seek revenge”.

“The demand of our citizens is an order for us”, said the prime minister. “However, it is not right to take a hurried decision with this level of heatedness and excitement”.

He added: “We had a bad dream and it left behind…”

Ankara blames Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, for a failed military coup at the weekend that attempted to topple the Turkish government. “However, I am telling them that there is a global threat, an attempt to overthrow the legitimate government, there is no religion and no religious values here”, Yildirim said. The United States has said it would consider any extradition request if it meets USA legal guidelines.