Turkey detains nephew of cleric blamed for coup – state media

The rapid pace of arrests since the coup attempt has anxious many of Turkey’s Western allies, who say they see the country going down an increasingly authoritarian road.

Fethullah Gulen, who was once an ally of Mr Erdogan but then fell out with him, has called on the USA government to block Turkey’s attempts to extradite him.

Some of the soldiers who seized state broadcaster TRT during the attempted coup came from the presidential guard unit, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Anadolu state news agency.

“There will no longer be a presidential guard, there is no goal, there is no need”, Mr Yildirim told the A Haber TV channel.

Turkey has shut down more than 2,000 institutions linked to the cleric Fethullah Gulen – the president’s longtime rival, who has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.

Earlier on Saturday, Mr Erdogan extended the period in which suspects can be detained without charge to 30 days.

His nephew, Muhammed Sait Gulen, was detained in the northeastern Turkish city of Erzurum and will be brought to the capital Ankara for questioning, Anadolu reported.

Turkey has declared a three-month state of emergency to restore security following the coup attempt, granting Erdogan the power to impose decrees without parliamentary approval.

Erdogan said more than 13,000 people with suspected links to the coup attempt have been taken into custody, including 1,485 police officers, more than 8,000 soldiers, 2,101 members of the judiciary, 52 district governors and 689 civilians.

A statement carried by state media also ordered the closure of more than 1,000 private schools and more than 1,200 associations.

Turkey’s secular Republican People’s Party has planned a rally for Sunday.

Tens of thousands of people have been detained, sacked or suspended in the wake of the failed coup, as the government vowed to “cleanse” the civil service from Gulen supporters.

The roundup of suspected coup plotters is not the only government response to the uprising.

Both sides have agreed that flags bearing the image of Turkey’s founding father Ataturk and the national flag would be the only symbols on display at the rally, which could mark a rare show of solidarity for a country that has failed to stand together in the aftermath of several terror attacks this year.