Erdogan: he narrowly escaped death in coup

Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan has told the US cable TV station CNN that he escaped death by only a few minutes before coup plotters stormed the resort in southwest Turkey where he was vacationing last weekend.
Erdogan’s interview was broadcast late Monday. He told CNN that soldiers supporting the coup killed two of his bodyguards when they stormed the resort early Saturday.
“Had I stayed 10, 15 additional minutes, I would have been killed or I would have been taken,” he told CNN through a translator provided by the presidency.
Revealing new details of the night of the coup, Erdogan said the renegade soldiers were in control of the command and control towers at Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport for hours before forces loyal to the president were able to regain control. He said that about 10,000 supporters were at the airport to greet him when his plane landed.
He also said that power was shut off at all military bases, including the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey used by the US-led coalition jets fighting the Daesh group, because the military didn’t want to risk having the conspirators use them.

Meanwhile, leading global human rights groups have condemned Turkey’s crackdown in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt, which has led to sweeping purges, detentions and arrests.
Amnesty International warned Monday that human rights were in “grave danger.”
“The sheer number of arrests and suspensions since Friday is alarming,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty’s director for Europe and Central Asia. “Cracking down on dissent and threatening to bring back the death penalty are not justice.”
Erdogan has told CNN that the foiled coup is a “clear crime of treason,” adding he will approve the reinstatement of the death penalty if the parliament decides it should be restored.
Turkey abolished capital punishment in 2004 as the country sought EU membership. After the failed coup attempt Friday, there were calls for reinstating the death penalty.
Erdogan told CNN in an interview broadcast Monday it is up the parliament to discuss the decision. He added he would ratify it if the parliament approves.
The EU called on Turkish authorities to exercise restraint after the failed coup, saying the reinstatement of the death penalty would threaten its membership bid.
Thousands of people have been dismissed or detained in the judiciary, interior ministry, military and police following Friday’s failed coup. The large scale of the crackdown has also alarmed Turkey’s key allies, the United States and the European Union.
Amnesty said it was investigating reports that detainees in Ankara and Istanbul had been subjected to a series of abuses, including ill-treatment in custody and being denied access to lawyers.
Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Director Hugh Williamson noted: “The speed and scale of the arrests, including of top judges, suggests a purge rather than a process based on any evidence. Turkey’s citizens who took to the streets to defend democracy deserve a response that upholds the rule of law.”

For the fourth night in a row, hundreds of demonstrators have taken to Turkey’s squares in a new show of support for the government after a failed coup attempt.
First called for by Erdogan on the night of the coup, the “democracy meetings” have been held in all of Turkey’s major cities every night for the past four nights.
The demonstrations feature flag waving, pro-government slogans, songs praising Erdogan and Islamic chants. There is a Qur’an reading at the meeting in front of Erdogan’s Istanbul residence in the Kisikli district.
Other major demonstrations are taking place in Istanbul’s central Taksim square, Ankara’s central Kizilay square and Izmir’s central Konak square.
Warplanes have patrolled Turkey’s skies following a failed coup, a sign that authorities fear the threat against the government is not yet over.
A senior official said Monday that F-16 jets guarded the Turkish airspace overnight. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules.
The coup plotters sent warplanes firing on key government installations and tanks rolling into major cities, but the rebellion was quashed by loyal government forces and masses of civilians who took to the streets. At least 294 people were killed and more than 1,400 wounded.
The state-run news agency, Anadolu, said Erdogan ordered the overnight patrol by F-16s.

Source ; Arab News