Turkey coup attempt: Erdogan signals death penalty return

President Tayyip Erdogan said the state of emergency, which he announced on Wednesday, would enable the authorities to act more efficiently to bring those responsible to justice.

More than 50,000 people have been rounded up, sacked or suspended. including about 21,000 teachers.

The targeting of education ties in with Mr Erdogan’s belief that the cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers run a network of schools worldwide, seeks to infiltrate the Turkish education system and other institutions in order to bend the country to his will.

Erdogan said Tuesday “an important decision” will be announced after the meetings.

The emergency state was implemented following a failed coup last weekend during which over 250 were killed.

Erdogan has demanded that the USA extradite or deport a reclusive Turkish cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania and whom he blames for inciting the rebellion.

More than 6,000 people, around half of them military personnel, have been arrested following the coup attempt, which is said to have been organized by followers of USA -based Fetullah Gulen.

Erdogan spoke following a National Security Council and cabinet meeting at the Parliament building in Ankara, which was targeted by bombing during the failed uprising on 15 July.

The embassy said that the process would be conducted “as usual” in full respect to fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law, as prescribed by law.

Earlier in the day, he noted that the recent coup attempt may not be fully over yet, and that foreign countries may have been involved in the attempt.

The spokesperson signaled that if the USA fails to extradite Gulen, Turkey will start to respond to extradition demands from the United States with a reciprocal principle. “This is a tactical thing to get [his] hands on Gulen, his main rival, opposition figurehead”, Botros said, adding that Erdogan’s moves of “extortion” also include “threatening” the European Union with a flow of migrants.

Sweeping purges in the aftermath of the coup have seen the dismissal of thousands from the judiciary, police force, military, administrative and religious affairs departments. Buoyed by Turkey’s pivotal role in managing the refugee crisis out of Syria, Erdogan has been able to exact concessions from Europe, including widening latitude in cracking down on the media and imprisoning the political opposition, along with constitutional reforms.