Over 6,000 held over coup bid; Putin calls Erdogan

17 July 2016, 1:37 pm

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Turkey has detained over 6,000 people over the coup plot aimed at ousting the government and the number will rise, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says.

“Now the clean-up operations are continuing. We have around 6,000 people detained. The number will increase above 6,000,” he is quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Turkish officers escorted by Greek police officers leave the courthouse of Alexandroupoli after appearing before a Greek prosecutor, on July 17, 2016. The eight, who have claimed asylum in Greece, arrived by military helicopter on July 16, 2016 after sending a distress signal to authorities at the airport in northern Alexandroupoli. (AFP/SAKIS MITROLIDIS)

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, describing the attempted coup as unacceptable and voicing hope for a speedy return to stability.

Putin stressed the “categorical unacceptability in the life of a state of anti-constitutional acts and violence” and passed on “wishes for a speedy restoration of strong constitutional order and stability in Turkey,” the Kremlin says in a statement.

— AFP