Recovering from Coup Attempt, Turkey’s Erdogan Considers Death Penalty

Recovering from what is belatedly becoming revealed to have been a dangerously close call, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is licking his wounds resulting from the bloody coup attempt that cost almost 300 lives and reduced the ranks of his army and judiciary by thousands. On Monday, media was rife with reports that the president is likely to restore the death penalty – which had been abolished in 2004 as a precondition to joining the European Union – and apply it to an undetermined number of coup organizers and participants, albeit in an ex post facto way. Coincidentally (?), calls for the death penalty were frequently heard from the crowd when Erdogan addressed the people on Sunday for the first time after Friday’s coup attempt. Prepared with a response, the president told the assemblage that, “We hear your request. In a democracy, whatever the people want they will get.” He added, “We will not delay this decision for long because those who attempt a coup in this country must pay.” Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the man Erdogan blames for the coup says he’s willing to accept extradition to Turkey. Cleric Fetullah Gulen has accused Erdogan of staging the attempt at his overthrow. Media reports on Monday say the anti-Erdogan forces had the president’s plane in their gunsights but failed to take the lethal shot.