In an interview with Turkish TV channel “A Haber” on Saturday, President Erdogan set the number of coup-related detainments at 18,699 and arrests at 10,137. According to the President, 237 were “martyred” in the coup attempt and 2,191 were wounded.
In the broadcast, Erdogan continued to argue that the self-exiled cleric FethullahGulen was the mastermind behind the failed coup attempt; but also offered a rare moment of self-criticism. Perhaps with the long-lasting political alliance between his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gulenists in mind, Erdogan said: “Look, if I was told 20 years ago, 15 years, 10 years, even 3-4 years ago, I wouldn’t believe (that they had gone) to this extent. But sadly we have fallen to a serious error. May Allah forgive us.”
Regarding the country’s OHAL emergency state, Erdogan stated: “If we see that the measures taken (regarding the firing civil servants) do not lead to normalization, we may further extend the state of emergency as France did.” He has argued “There is a serious organization within state institutions…we will have to clean up all of these.”