Tayyip Erdogan: Third countries could be involved in coup attempt

Interview to Al Jazeera

In an interview to Qatari state-owned media outlet ‘Al Jazeera’, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at his critics over the possibility of his country reinstating the death penalty after the failed coup attempt. Erdogan claimed that based on information extracted from suspects in custody, other countries could have been been involved in the coup attempt. The Turkish President underlined the US should not turn down his request to extradite US based islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is dubbed a traitor and believed to be the mastermind behind the coup. Erdogan declared Turkey in a state of emergency for three months, thus concentrating all executive powers on himself. The Turkish President has unleaded an unprecedented pogrom of massive proportions against state officials and civil servants (estimated 50,000) he suspects of having ties with his sworn foe the self-exiled Gulen. On the issue of the reintroduction of the death penalty, Erdogan told Sl Jazeera that it was something the parliament would decide on. The Turkish President has come under harsh criticism over the matter, with both the US and the EU warning that the EU door would close if Turkey decided to reinstate the death penalty. ‘The EU is not the whole world’, quipped Erdogan.