Turkish Jets Strike Rebels in Iraq Following Failed Coup

“And we will never make them”, he said sternly.

In the aftermath of the apparent attempted overthrow of the Turkish government, authorities in Ankara have pushed for the U.S.to hand over Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric who has lived in the mountains of Pennsylvania since 1999. Erdogan’s government said it has fired almost 22,000 education ministry workers, mostly teachers, taken steps to revoke the licenses of 21,000 other teachers at private schools and sacked or detained half a dozen university presidents in a campaign to root out alleged supporters of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for the botched insurrection on Friday.

“Eliminating a coup attempt by a faction within the army has become a very important symbol with regards to reinforcing Erdogan’s power and political leadership in Turkey”, Serkan Demirtas, columnist of local Hurriyet Daily News, told Xinhua.

Apart from the conversation yesterday, Turkey provided the United States government with documents that were being reviewed to determine whether it amounted to a formal extradition request for Gulen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania.

Erdogan and Gulen were once allies, but had a falling out over 2013 corruption investigations in Turkey, which the Turkish leader blamed on Gulen.

A senior Turkish official said the travel ban on academics is a “temporary measure”.

“A deep split is emerging in Turkish society”, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. “The danger of an escalation in violence between Erdogan supporters and opponents has also risen in Germany”.

Turkey accuses U.S-based Gulen of being behind the coup attempt and has demanded that he be extradited to face trial.

A White House spokesman did not give details about the USA position on Gulen’s possible extradition, except to say the decision will be made according to a longstanding treaty between Ankara and Washington. “There is no need to prove the coup attempt, all evidence shows that the coup attempt was organized on his will and orders”.

“We are not leaving these squares”, said Durhan Yilmiz, an Istanbul municipality worker.

But he also suggested that the USA government shouldn’t require the facts before extraditing him. “But in this incident even they said they were on the side of the president, because [a pro-coup] direction would doom them and be the end of them”.

The putsch left more than 300 dead and caused scenes of devastation, especially in Ankara where fighter jets and attack helicopters turned parts of parliament and the police headquarters to rubble.

On how the thwarted coup affected operations against Daesh from Incirlik Air Base in Adana, southern Turkey, Bass said that there is still no electricity at the base.

Some voiced concern President Tayyip Erdogan was using the opportunity to consolidate his power and further a process of stifling dissent which has already caused tensions with Europe. Thousands have been detained.

Only proven involvement in illegal acts should trigger action by Turkey, not political affiliation, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Mr. Erdogan has also said he will consider public demands to reinstate the death penalty.

Addressing hundreds of supporters outside his Istanbul residence early yesterday, Erdogan responded to calls for the reintroduction of the death penalty with the simple statement: “You can not put aside the people’s demands”.

“U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein called on Turkey to uphold rule of law and provide fair trials”.

Speaking to parliament, the chairman of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, said his party would back legislation to reintroduce the death penalty if it was put forward by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

More than 6,000 soldiers and about 1,500 others have been detained since the coup attempt.

About 900 police officers from Ankara, where the presidential palace was bombed, have been suspended.

Some 1,500 finance ministry officials have also been removed from their posts. Turkey’s defense ministry has also sacked at least 262 military court judges and prosecutors, according to Turkish media reports. Erdogan appeared to affirm the supposition, calling the coup a “gift from Allah”.