PHOTO: Turkey’s EU Minister Ömer Çelik “We expect officials of the European Union to visit us”


A Turkish Minister has declared that self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen is “more dangerous than Osama bin Laden”, as the Government increased detention periods and banned thousands of hospitals and schools after last weekend’s failed coup.

The minister for European Union affairs, Ömer Çelik, made the statement at a news conference criticizing the EU for failing to stand by Ankara during the unrest.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claims that Gülen, a long-time ally who fell out with the President in 2013 amid claims of corruption within the Government, is behind the coup attempt. The President has said for years that the cleric, who lives on a farm in Pennsylvania, seeks a “parallel structure” within a “deep state” to overthrow the Government.

Erdoğan is demanding the US extradite Gülen. President Obama repeated the US line on Friday that evidence is needed for any extradition to be considered.

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Çelik said on Saturday, “We would expect officials of the European Union, European Parliament and European Council to visit Turkey to voice their support for the common democratic values we share by standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkey.”

He thanked other countries for messages of support, “There is no doubt that the values in danger are the common values of all of us. We have enough power to protect our own democracy.”

The EU has expressed concern over the scale of the post-coup crackdown by President Erdoğan, including the detention or suspension of more than 60,000 soldiers, judges, civil servants, university lecturers, teachers, and journalists. Dozens of media outlets have been closed.

Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have said that the death penalty might be re-introduced, reversing a 2004 ban to bring Turkey in line with the EU.

1000s of Hospitals and Schools Closed

On Saturday, the daily Hürriyet revealed that a State decree has increased the legal duration of detention to 30 days, from the previous 48-hour period.

The same decree ordered the closure of 35 hospitals, 1,043 private schools and dormitories, 15 private universities, 1,229 associations and foundations, and 19 trade unions.

The Government claims that the closed institutions are linked to Gülen’s “deep state”, the same rationale it has used for the tens of thousands of detentions and suspensions.

To prevent the public workers from returning to employment, the decree bans work at state institutions after any suspension.

Çelik said on Saturday that the aim of the measures, implemented under a three-month state of emergency, is “to protect democracy, to protect the state of law, to protect the rights and liberties of our citizens and to protect peace in our country”.