Turkey is disbanding its elite presidential guard unit following an attempted coup that left hundreds dead this month, the Prime Minister said.
Some of the soldiers who seized state broadcaster TRT during the attempted coup came from the presidential guard unit, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told Anadolu state news agency.
“We decided that there won’t be a guards unit in this compound anymore,” he said.
Since the attempted coup July 15, Turkey has cracked down on various agencies and individuals suspected of having ties to the attempted coup, including journalists, judges and professors.
New decree
The roundup of suspected coup plotters is not the only government response to the uprising.
Under a new presidential decree following the attempted coup, suspects can be detained for as long as 30 days without charge and the government can listen in on all conversations they have with their lawyers.
A three-month state of emergency declaration issued Thursday grants President Recep Tayyip Erdogan new powers to implement the detention measures.
It is expected to be ratified by parliament, where his party holds the majority.
Before the coup attempt, Turkey’s detention period without charges was 24 hours, extendable to as long as four days.
Nephew, aide detained
Turkey has shut down more than 2,000 institutions linked to the cleric Fethullah Gulen — the president’s longtime rival, who has been in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania since 1999.
Erdogan accuses him of being behind the coup attempt and has requested his extradition from the United States.
Gulen and his supporters have said the government is using the state of emergency “to solidify his power and persecute his critics.”
Turkish authorities detained Gulen’s top aide Saturday, according to a source from the President’s office. Halis Hanci, who was taken into custody in northern Turkey, entered the country two days before the military coup attempt, the source said.
Gulen’s nephew, Muhammet Sait Gulen, was also detained, Anadolu reported.
Massive roundups
Turkey fired or suspended 50,000 people from the country’s institutions and security forces last week. They include judges, teachers, police and journalists.
More than 9,000 soldiers have been arrested since the coup, but 1,200 were released Saturday, the government said.
Rare show of unity
Turkey’s secular Republican People’s Party has planned a rally for Sunday. The party opposed the coup attempt and supported Erdogan, but it voted against his state of emergency declaration.
The secularists have said their denouncement of the coup does not mean they agree with the government measures enacted afterward.
The rally marks a rare show of solidarity for a country that has failed to stand together in the aftermath of several terrorist attacks this year.
The government’s response to the rally will also widely be seen as a test of its commitment to democratic freedoms.
