Ankara: Detentions after coup based on ‘urgent suspicion’

ANKARA (AA) – Suspects taken into custody after the failed overthrow of the government were detained on the basis of “urgent suspicion”, not arbitrary motivations, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said Friday.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Canikli said the detained suspects are just the tip of iceberg as the group believed to be behind the coup attempt has been trying to infiltrate the state’s institution for decades.

“If their relation with the group can’t be determined, no step is being taken. Arrests without proper basis are beside the mark. We are very careful,” Canikli said, adding that Turkey is faced with an extraordinary situation.

Those behind the coup attempt are widely believed to be linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and it is as if their minds are hypnotized, he said.

“They are people who will do anything with instruction from their leader. In this respect they are very dangerous and they have hundreds of thousands of members. Each one of them is a potential threat,” he warned.

Canikli said the government expects its allies to see the situation without prejudices as there is an ongoing information pollution in media.

“There is no secret. Everything that happened in Turkey took place in public. There is no need to exert an extra effort to attain that information,” he said.