Erdogan places Turkey in state of emergency

ANKARA, TURKEY— Turkey’s president on Wednesday declared a threemonth state of emergency following a failed coup.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the measure was being taken to counter threats to democracy and wasn’t intended to curb basic freedoms.

He spoke after an extraordinary national security meeting with cabinet ministers and top security advisers.

“The aim is to rapidly and effectively take all steps needed to eliminate the threat against democracy, the rule of law and the people’s rights and freedoms,” Erdogan said.

The president, who has said he narrowly escaped being killed or captured by renegade military units, suggested that purges would continue within military ranks.

Turkey imposed martial-law-like emergency rule in the southeast in 1987, allowing officials to set curfews, issue search and arrest warrants and restrict gatherings as the security forces fought Kurdish rebels in the region. It was lifted by 2002.

The latest insurrection by some military units was launched late Friday, but security forces and protesters loyal to the government quashed the rebellion.

Erdogan says the pro-government death toll in the botched coup was 246. At least 24 coup plotters were also killed.

Cracking down on alleged subversives in education, Turkey has fired nearly 22,000 education ministry workers and said that it would close more than 600 private schools and dormitories.

The targeting of education ties in with Erdogan’s belief that U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whose followers run a worldwide network of schools, seeks to infiltrate the Turkish education system. The cleric’s movement, which espouses moderation and multi-faith harmony, says it is a scapegoat for what it describes as the president’s increasingly autocratic conduct.

Turkey has repeatedly named Gulen as the instigator of its turmoil and demands his extradition from the United States. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Turkey must provide hard evidence that Gulen was behind the foiled coup if it wants him extradited. At a joint press conference with Kerry in Washington, Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion echoed that point.

“About the Gulen movement . . . we have received requests before the coup and after from the government of Turkey about the movement that is existing in Canada, and we have asked for evidence because otherwise the Canadian justice system cannot address an issue on the basis of allegations,” Dion explained.