As Turkey mourns coup victims, Erdogan signals executions may be reinstated

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave signals that Turkey might reinstate capital punishment in the wake of Friday’s failed coup attempt.
Erdogan spoke to his supporters in front of his Istanbul residence Sunday evening. His speech was punctuated by frequent calls of “we want the death penalty” from the large crowd, to which Erdogan responded: “We hear your request. In a democracy, whatever the people want they will get.”
Adding that they will be in contact with Turkey’s opposition parties to reach a position of capital punishment, “We will not delay this decision for long. Because those who attempt a coup in this country must pay.”
Turkey hasn’t executed anyone since 1984 and capital punishment was legally abolished in 2004 as part of its bid to join the European Union.
Funeral ceremonies and prayers for those killed in the coup were held in Ankara and Istanbul on Sunday, where relatives beside themselves with grief. Prayers were read simultaneously from Turkey’s 85,000 mosques at noon to honor those who died in an attempted military coup.
Sela prayers are traditionally recited from mosques during funerals, though they are also performed to rally people, as they were all night Friday during tense coup hours.
A government official said autopsies have been completed on 165 people, including 115 reclaimed by their families. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Forty policemen, including twin brothers, were killed when the renegade soldiers attacked a special forces station in Ankara.
Erdogan shed tears during the funeral of his campaign manager, Erol Olcak and the man’s 16-year-old son Abdullah Tayyip Olcak, who were killed when renegade soldiers opened fire on protesters at the Bosporus bridge in Istanbul on Friday night. Yeni Safak journalist Mustafa Cambaz was also killed by gunfire in Istanbul.
At their funeral, Erdogan was overpowered by emotions and cried. He used a handkerchief to wipe away the tears and turned around as he continued to weep.
Erdogan vowed to take the country forward in “unity and solidarity.”

Crackdown continues
In a massive crackdown that followed the failed coup attempt, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Sunday said that 6,000 people had been detained in the investigation, including three of the country’s top generals and hundreds of soldiers.
Dozens of arrest warrants have also been issued for judges and prosecutors deemed to be government opponents.
The government has also dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send the conspirators to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.
“The cleansing (operation) is continuing. Some 6,000 detentions have taken place. The number could surpass 6,000,” Bozdag said in televised comments.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, says authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s top military aide, Col. Ali Yazici. It wasn’t immediately clear what role, if any, Yazici played in the attempted coup that started late Friday.
The botched coup, which saw warplanes fly over key government installations and tanks roll up in major cities, ended hours later when loyal government forces regained control of the military and civilians took to the streets in support of Erdogan.
A Turkish official says law enforcement officials fired warning shots at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gocen Airport on Sunday after backers of the failed coup had resisted arrest. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol, initially reported there were clashes in the area.
He later retracted that statement saying there was “no exchange” of fire and security forces had only fired “warning shots.”

Tension at Incirlik air base
Meanwhile, Anadolu Agency reported that seven people, including a colonel, were detained at an air base in the central Anatolian city of Konya.
The same official said the situation in Konya was “under control” after coup backers there also resisted arrest.
“This is why we have been asking the people to stand guard and remain aware,” he said.
Chanting, dancing and waving flags, tens of thousands of Turks marched through the streets into the early hours Sunday in half a dozen cities after officials urged them to defend democracy and back Erdogan, Turkey’s top politician for 13 years.
It was an emotional display by Turks, who rallied in headscarves and long dresses, T-shirts and work boots, some walking hand-in-hand with their children. Rather than toppling him, the attempted coup that left some 265 dead and 1,440 wounded appears to have bolstered Erdogan’s popularity and grip on power.
The Yeni Safak newspaper used the headline “Traitors of the country,” while the Hurriyet newspaper declared “Democracy’s victory.”
“Just a small group from Turkish armed forces stood up against our government ... but we, the Turkish nation, stand together and repulse it back,” Gozde Kurt, a 16-year-old student at the rally in Istanbul, said Sunday morning.
Gen. Umit Dunda said the dead included at least 104 conspirators, describing them as mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and armored units.
The putsch attempt led to a temporary halt to air operations by the US led coalition against the Daesh group from a key Turkish air base, but the US Defense Department says that Turkey has re-opened its airspace.
A key NATO member, Turkey is a key partner in US-led efforts to defeat the Daesh group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. A Turkish government official said that the commander of the base, Gen. Bekir Ercan Van, was among those detained.
The coup attempt has added to uncertainties in US-Turkish relations. Turkish officials have claimed the conspirators were loyal to moderate US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government. Gulen, a staunch democracy advocate who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey. He strongly denies the charges.

Source: Arab News