ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey would consider reinstating the death penalty after the failed attempt to overthrow his government.
?In democracies, decisions are made based on what the people say. I think our government will speak with the opposition and come to a decision,? he said, reacting to crowds in Istanbul calling for capital punishment.
?We cannot delay this anymore because in this country, those who launch a coup will have to pay the price for it,? he told supporters after attending funerals for the putsch victims.In the aftermath of Friday?s foiled coup, there have been frequent calls from thousands of Erdogan supporters for capital punishment to make a return.
Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 under reforms aimed at obtaining European Union membership. Reinstatement would create further issues between the EU and Ankara in the already stalled membership talks.
Erdogan repeated calls for the United States to extradite Fethullah Gulen, blaming the coup on the US-based Islamic preacher and his followers, which he describes as a terrorist organisation.
Gulen condemned the military uprising ?in the strongest terms? in a rare interview with reporters in Pennsylvania and rejected charges of being the coup mastermind, suggesting Erdogan may have staged it himself.
Erdogan earlier broke down in tears at the funeral of hislong-time friend Erol Olcak and his 16-year-old son who were shot dead on Friday on the Bosphorus bridge.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities pressed on Sunday with a ruthless crackdown against suspects in the failed coup, with 6,000 people detained.
World leaders including US President Barack Obama have strongly condemned Friday?s attempted takeover by an army faction, but there is also alarm over the retaliatory purges, especially after pictures emerged showing the rough treatment of some suspects.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said around 6,000 people had been detained in ?clean-up operations? and warned that the number would rise. They include senior army commanders, top judges, prosecutors and a military aide to Erdogan.
A total of 265 people were killed during the coup bid, including 161 civilians and regular troops and 104 coup plotters, according to government and military figures.
Clashes erupted at an air base in the central city of Konya between security forces and putschists trying to evade arrest, while at Istanbul?s second airport Sabiha Gokcen, police fired warning shots at rebel troops who later surrendered, a Turkish official told AFP.
Turkish authorities have made clear they will show no mercy in the wake of the coup, which sparked fears of chaos in the strategic Nato country of 80 million people. It was the biggest challenge to Erdogan´s rule in his 13 years as prime minister and president.
The group behind the putsch, which called itself the Council for Peace in the Homeland, said it was necessary to stop the increasingly authoritarian president from undermining Turkish democracy. Critics at home and abroad had voiced mounting concern over the state of democracy and freedom of speech under Erdogan. But the 62-year-old leader successfully mobilised supporters into the streets to face down the plotters.
Thousands again responded late Saturday to Erdogan?s call to pour into the streets and celebrate the ?victory of democracy?, with mass rallies of flag-waving Turks in cities including Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.
?They may have tanks but we have our faith. We will not leave the squares... but we will continue defiantly,? said Erdogan.
Turkish television has shown images of captured suspects forced to lie face down on the tarmac after their arrest while AFP photographers have seen suspects roughly led away, pursued by angry mobs. NTV television said 34 generals of various grades had been detained so far.
Air force brigadier general Bekir Ercan Van was also detained at the key Incirlik air base used by US forces for raids in Syria, along with a dozen lower-ranked officers. But the crackdown is not restricted to the military, and Anadolu said warrants have been issued for 2,745 judges and prosecutors.
Turkey shut down airspace around Incirlik after the coup, forcing the US to halt its strikes in Syria. But Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Sunday that operations against the Islamic State group had resumed from the base.
The putsch added to the turmoil in Turkey after a wave of deadly bombings blamed on IS jihadists and Kurdish rebels.
Meanwhile, signs of testy relations between Turkey?s embattled government and the United States continued on Sunday, as Secretary of State John Kerry denounced any suggestion of American involvement in Friday?s coup.
?We think it?s irresponsible to have accusations of American involvement,? Kerry told CNN.Suleyman Soylu, Turkey?s labour minister, had accused the United States of being behind the coup. In a phone call on Saturday with the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Kerry urged restraint by the Turkish government and said that ?public insinuations or claims about any role by the United States in the failed coup attempt are utterly false and harmful to our bilateral relations,? according to a description of the call released by the State Department.
On Sunday, Kerry expressed concerns that Erdogan might use the coup to undertake a wide-ranging purge within the government of those who may disagree with him.
?Obviously, there are coup plotters, and the coup plotters need to be held accountable and they will be,? Kerry said on ABC. ?But I think we?re all concerned, and we have expressed that concern, that this not fuel a reach well beyond those who engaged in the coup but that they strengthen the democracy of the country, strengthen the process, and use it as a moment to unite the nation.?
On NBC, Kerry said an extensive purge ?would be a great challenge to his relationship to Europe, to Nato and to all of us, and we have urged them not to reach out so far that they?re creating doubts about their commitment to the democratic process, and I hope it won?t result in that.?
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