News / Turkey

Turkey detains more than 7,500 over coup attempt

Monday, 18 July 2016 1:02 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 18 July 2016 1:09 PM ]

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (AFP photo)

Turkey has detained a whopping number of suspects over a botched coup attempt as the country intensifies the crackdown on those believed to have played a role in the abortive putsch.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday updated the media on the number of people arrested or killed over the coup attempt, saying more than 7,500 have been detained since the coup was declared over two days ago.

“So far 7,543 suspects have been detained. The numbers may change. It includes 100 police, 6,038 soldiers, 755 judges and prosecutors and 650 civilians,” Yildirim said, adding that 316 of the detainees have been remanded in custody.

The Turkish premier also gave a new toll of the victims of the military-led coup attempt, saying 208 people were killed, including 145 civilians, 60 police and three soldiers, adding that 1,491 others were also wounded as a result of the coup attempt which unfolded on Friday night.

Additionally, the military and the government say over 100 coup plotters have also been killed.

Pro-Erdogan supporters gather on Taksim square in Istanbul on July 17, 2016, during a demonstration in support of the Turkish government following a failed coup attempt. ©AFP

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to bring those responsible for the move to justice.

After the coup was declared over, Erdogan said on Saturday that the plotters will pay a "heavy price" for what they did to the security and stability of the country. That has triggered a massive crackdown on members of the military, the judiciary and journalists, with reports suggesting many have been discarded from their official positions due to alleged connections to plotters.

Earlier on Monday, security forces killed an armed attacker who reportedly shot at them from a vehicle outside an Ankara courthouse. The shooting came as the court was hearing cases against dozens of suspects in the failed coup.

A Turkish police restrains a man on the ground during an operation in front of the courthouse on July 18, 2016, in Ankara. ©AFP

Sources identified the attacker as an army soldier, without elaborating whether he had any connection to the coup attempt.

Local media said police also arrested two other people during the attack.

Turkey has been on high security alert following the Friday coup attempt as well as a string of terrorist attacks that have hit the country over the past year.

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