Turkey extends police powers after coup

AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkey pushed on Saturday with a sweeping crackdown against suspects accused of taking part in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, extending police powers to hold people in detention and shuttering over 1,000 private schools.
A week after renegade soldiers tried to oust him with guns, tanks and F16s, Erdogan's government has rounded up or sacked tens of thousands of perceived state enemies, including almost 300 officers of the guard shielding his Ankara palace.
But in its first major release of suspects amid global criticism of the crackdown, Turkey set free 1,200 low ranking soldiers in Ankara.
Under heightened police powers, suspects can now be held without charge for one month, up from four days, the official gazette announced on the third day of what Erdogan has said would be a three-month state of emergency.
Fears that the strongman will seek to further cement his rule and muzzle dissent through repression have strained ties with Western NATO allies and cast a darkening shadow over Turkey’s long-standing bid to join the European Union.
After Brussels issued stinging criticism and warned Erdogan that bringing back the death penalty would end the membership bid for good, Erdogan fired back that the EU had taken a “biased and prejudiced” stance on Turkey.
He added bitterly that “for the past 53 years Europe has been making us wait” and that no EU candidate country “has had to suffer like we have had to suffer”.

 

Turkey extends police powers after coup

AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkey pushed on Saturday with a sweeping crackdown against suspects accused of taking part in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, extending police powers to hold people in detention and shuttering over 1,000 private schools. A week after renegade soldiers tried to oust him with guns, tanks and F16s, Erdogans government has rounded up or sacked tens of thousands of perceived state enemies, including almost 300 officers of the guard shielding his Ankara palace. But in its first major release of suspects amid global criticism of the crackdown, Turkey set free 1,200 low ranking soldiers in Ankara. Under heightened police powers, suspects can now be held without charge for one month, up from four days, the official gazette announced on the third day of what Erdogan has said would be a three-month state of emergency. Fears that the strongman will seek to further cement his rule and muzzle dissent through repression have strained ties with Western NATO allies and cast a darkening shadow over Turkeys long-standing bid to join the European Union. After Brussels issued stinging criticism and warned Erdogan that bringing back the death penalty would end the membership bid for good, Erdogan fired back that the EU had taken a biased and prejudiced stance on Turkey. He added bitterly that for the past 53 years Europe has been making us wait and that no EU candidate country has had to suffer like we have had to suffer.