| Defiant Turkey extends police powers, shutters schools after coup Posted: 23 Jul 2016 03:48 PM PDT  Turkey pushed on Saturday with a sweeping crackdown against suspected plotters of its failed coup, defiantly telling EU critics it had no choice but to root out hidden enemies. Using new emergency powers, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's cabinet decreed that police could now hold suspects for one month without charge, and announced it would shut down over 1,000 private schools it deems subversive. A week after renegade soldiers tried to oust him with guns, tanks and F16s, Erdogan's government has detained over 13,000 people it suspects are state enemies, mainly soldiers but also police, judges, teachers and civil servants.
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| Turkey's Erdogan shuts schools, charities in first state of emergency decree Posted: 23 Jul 2016 02:22 PM PDT  By Gareth Jones and Ercan Gurses ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan tightened his grip on Turkey on Saturday, ordering the closure of thousands of private schools, charities and other institutions in his first decree since imposing a state of emergency after the failed military coup. Turkish authorities also detained a nephew of Fethullah Gulen, the U.S.-based Muslim cleric accused by Ankara of orchestrating the July 15 coup attempt, the Anadolu state news agency reported. A restructuring of Turkey's once untouchable military also drew closer, with a planned meeting between Erdogan and the already purged top brass brought forward by several days.
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