President Recep Erdogan on Friday said the number of people arrested in Turkey following Wednesday’s attempted coup has climbed to 10,410.
Erdogan told newsmen that 4,060 have been placed in detention.
Report says the rapid pace of arrests which Erdogan insists is targeting supporters of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan says was behind the failed July 15 coup.
It said that the arrest has worried many of Turkey’s Western allies, adding that they see Turkey going down an increasingly authoritarian road.
Turkey entered into a 90-day state of emergency on Thursday, which Erdogan has said is necessary to restore order after the coup, which left 260 dead.
Turkey is also demanding that the U.S. extradite Gulen.
“Citizens have to defend themselves against the “most insidious and vile coup attempt in the history of the Turkish people,’’ Erdogan said.
People have indeed continued to celebrate the crushing of the coup since the weekend.
Yasin Aktay, spokesman of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) said they cannot understand the criticism they are getting from Europe about the arrest.
“There have been two recent incidents in France and Belgium where terrorist attacks resulted in six months of states of emergency, which were extended for six months,’’ Aktay noted. (dpa/NAN)
ACO/JIE
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