President Erdogan has vowed to behead “terrorists” as he used the anniversary of last year’s coup attempt to rail against domestic opponents and the European Union.
In Istanbul, crowds waving Turkish flags – and many wearing clothing emblazoned with the president’s name and image - packed onto the iconic bridge over the Bosphorus, where on the coup night soldiers fired into crowds who had heeded Erdogan’s call to come to the streets to resist.
In Ankara a startlingly vivid reconstruction of the putsch was projected onto the neo-classical façade of the parliament building, which was bombed by rogue F-16 pilots during the attempt. Erdogan addressed high-adrenaline and often angry audiences in both cities.
“We know who is behind these terrorists,” he said to a crowd hundreds of thousands strong on the bridge in Istanbul. “We cannot checkmate [them] without crushing the pawns. So, we are first going to behead those traitors.”
Later in the evening the president flew to Ankara, where he was due to speak at 2.32am – the exact time that the first bomb hit the parliament. Shrugging off warnings from the EU, he pledged to bring back executions.
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“The law will come to the parliament and I believe it will pass before the parliament. And once it lands before me I will approve it without hesitation,” Erdogan boomed to roars of approval.
The last execution in Turkey was in 1984, four years after the last full military coup, and the death penalty was abolished in 2002 as part of the country’s push towards EU membership. Since the coup attempt, Erdogan has repeatedly said that he is willing to bring back capital punishment, despite Europe’s warnings that such a move would slam the door on membership talks.
“There is the blood of 250 martyrs and 2,193 veterans. What would Hans say? What would George say? Personally, I look at what Ahmet, Mehmet, Husseyin, Hassan, Ayse, Fatma and Hatice would say,” the strongman told the crowds.
The weekend’s events were billed as displays of national unity. In reality, though, Turkey’s brief moment of consensus in the wake of the coup disintegrated almost immediately as Erdogan launched a huge crackdown on the alleged perpetrators. He accuses followers of his ally-turned-rival, Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen – but the purge has spread much wider, ensnaring opponents of all stripes.
More than 150,000 people have been arrested, dismissed or suspended, while a growing number of Turks are in self-imposed exile overseas. As dawn broke on the anniversary day, 7,000 more civil servants, including police and soldiers, were dismissed from their jobs.
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“Those who oppressed this homeland are now held to account in the courts. They sold out their nation for a single dollar and they will rot in the dungeons,” Erdogan said. “We have thousands of witnesses.”
Erdogan also accused Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the opposition leader, of siding with the Gulenists and of staying indoors on the night of the coup rather than coming to the streets to resist. Kilicdaroglu, who led a huge Justice March from Ankara to Istanbul earlier this month, accuses the president of allowing the coup to play out in order despite having foreknowledge that it would happen.
“He still refers to this incident as a controlled coup,” Erdogan said. “Calling this incident a controlled coup is beyond unfortunate. It is in fact being insensitive. What do you think this nation is? How could you call this a controlled coup? Shame on you.”