Thousands of Turkish military and judicial officials have been arrested by state security forces as Ankara cracks down on opposition factions who masterminded a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government over the weekend.
About 6,000 people had been detained as of Sunday following rolling gun battles and airstrikes Friday between opposition forces and those loyal to the Erdogan administration.
Prime Minster Binali Yildirim attempted to calm the public’s nerves Sunday, saying that government forces were back in full control of the state during an interview on state-run TRT television.
“Another calamity has been thwarted,” Mr. Yildirim said after touring the station’s main offices in Ankara, which had been seized by opposition forces during the attempted putsch.
Turkish troops belonging to the opposition began occupying government installations in Ankara, Istanbul, Gaziantep and elsewhere, prompting Mr. Yildirim to confirm the coup attempt late Friday.
Mr. Erdogan, who at the time was out of the country, urged supporters to take to the streets to battle opposition forces attempting to overthrow the government.
Hours later, government reinforcements arrived at besieged sites across Turkey and flushed out opposition troops and regained command of the country’s armed forces, leaving at least 294 dead and 1,400 wounded in the aftermath.
U.S. military personnel stationed at Incirlik Air Base were forced to suspend operations as Ankara shut down all air traffic in the skies above Turkey as part of the government’s military response to the attempted coup. The air base, 300 miles south of Ankara, has been a major hub for U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook confirmed that airstrikes against Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, had resumed at Incirlik.
“After close coordination with our Turkish allies, they have reopened their airspace to military aircraft,” he said in a statement Saturday.
During Sunday’s interview, Mr. Yildirim vowed that more arrests would be forthcoming as state authorities continue to investigate the origins of the military opposition.
“We shall rapidly conduct the cleansing operation so that they cannot again show the audacity of coming against the will of the people,” he said, adding those already in custody “will receive every punishment they deserve.”
The mass detentions of military and government officials in the wake of the coup have stoked fears that Mr. Erdogan may use the event to strengthen his already-authoritarian rule over the country.
“The factions within the military opposed to Erdogan who did this just gave him carte blanche to crack down” on all elements within Turkey who oppose his leadership, Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at the U.S.-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Rep. Edward R. Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, echoed those comments in a statement Saturday, saying the Erdogan regime “must do [its] part and turn away from creeping authoritarianism.”
“I hope President Erdogan reacts by committing to greater democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights my fear, though, is that the Turkish president will move in the opposite direction,” said Mr. Royce, California Republican.
At the time, opposition leaders claimed the coup was staged in an attempt to restore human rights and democracy to Turkey, which had crumbled under Mr. Erdogan.
The country’s internal political and internal strife have only been exacerbated by the ongoing Syrian civil war, along with the fight against the Islamic State spilling across Turkey’s borders, and the increasingly powerful role Kurdish separatist groups are playing against Islamic State.
The government alleged the coup conspirators were loyal to moderate U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Mr. Erdogan has often accused of trying to overthrow the government, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Gulen, who lives in Saylorsburgh, Pennsylvania, espouses a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with democracy, the AP reported. He is a former Erdogan ally turned bitter foe who has been put on trial in absentia in Turkey, where the government has labeled his movement a terrorist group. He strongly denies the government’s charges.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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