The Turkish government is continuing its crackdown following an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Around 60,000 soldiers, police, judges, teachers and civil servants have been suspended or detained.
27 July 2016
The Turkish military said on Wednesday that 8,651 soldiers took part in a failed attempt to overthrow the government earlier this month, accounting for about 1.5 percent of the army. In a statement carried by Turkey's NTV television, the military said the soldiers belonged to a "terrorist" network led by Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Muslim cleric who has led a religious movement for decades. The armed forces said 35 planes, including 24 fighter jets and 37 helicopters, were used in the coup attempt on July 15 when at least 246 people were killed and more than 2,000 were injured. It said 37 tanks and 246 armoured vehicles were also used in the coup attempt and added that it has the power to put down any further threats. (Reuters)
26 July 2016
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have arrested two Turkish generals alleged to have played a role in the attempted coup. Major General Mehmet Cahit Bakir, commander of the Afghanistan Turkish Task Force, and Brigadier General Sener Topuc, commander of the Train, Advise and Assist Command in Kabul, were detained at Dubai International Airport after fleeing from Afghanistan, Anadolu Agency reported. The UAE collaborated with Turkey and returned both generals to Ankara, according to the news agency.
Former Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu has been detained as part of the investigation into the July 15 failed coup, Anadolu Agency cited a police source as saying on Tuesday. Mutlu’s house is being searched, the source said. Mutlu occupied the Istanbul province governor’s chair between 2010 and 2014, later taking a civilian position within the Interior Ministry. He was suspended from his position, along with 246 others.
Turkey's religious affairs directorate has so far removed a total of 1,112 personnel, including preachers and instructors in the Koran, since the July 15 failed military coup, it said on Tuesday. Turkish authorities accuse U.S.-based Islamic preacher and scholar Fethullah Gulen of orchestrating the abortive coup, in which at least 246 people were killed. Gulen, who denies the charge, has built up an extensive network of supporters, schools, charities and businesses in Turkey over decades. Separately, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters that two ambassadors, currently based in Ankara, had been removed following the coup attempt. (Reuters)
25 July 2016
Turkish authorities are also investigating social network users that believe the military coup was a hoax carried out by the government to get a tighter grip on power, Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag said in an interview with Turkish Kanal 7.
“Those in Europe or in other places who speak of the staged character of the coup must have been behind it as internal or foreign supporters of Gulen,” he added.
An investigation into more than 5,000 staff working in Turkey's Health Department has been launched "in the framework of the State of Emergency Decree," local media reported, citing Health Minister Recep Akdag. Making the announcement, the minister reportedly expressed hope that "innocent" people would not suffer from the investigation that followed the failed coup.
Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s state-run airline has fired more than 100 employees, including some in management positions, Turkish media reports, as cited by Reuters. A purge of state institutions continues to try and find supporters of the attempted coup against President Erdogan.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that ties with the US could suffer unless they extradite Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara believes was behind the attempted coup to oust Erdogan. Cavusoglu also threatened that some ambassadors may be removed who were linked to the attempted coup.
However, Washington has said on a number of occasions that Turkey must provide solid evidence of any links Gulen might have to the attempted coup before any possible extradition process is discussed.
24 July 2016
Turkey’s prosecutors have started investigating people who assumed on social media that the July 15 coup attempt was a false flag staged by the government. Anyone who has suggested that the coup attempt was staged is likely to have had a role in the insurrection, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in an interview with Turkey's Kanal 7 TV channel.
"Just look at the people who are saying on social media that this was theater, public prosecutors are already investigating them. Most of them are losers who think it is an honor to die for Fethullah Gulen's command," Bozdag said, as quoted by AP.
A total of 13,165 people have been detained in connection to the foiled coup attempt in Turkey, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The president also specified that 8,838 of those arrested are soldiers, 2,101 are judges and prosecutors, 1,485 are police officers, 52 are local authorities and 689 are civilians, as reported by the Hurriyet daily. He added that 934 schools, 109 dormitories, 15 universities, 104 foundations, 35 health institutions, 1,125 associations and 19 unions were closed as they belonged to what he described as “the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization.”
23 July 2016
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the US based cleric and his former ally Fetullah Gulen, a “dishonest traitor” at his speech to the Parliament.
“The FETO terror group, who are abusing people’s tax money to purchase guns, tanks, warplanes, heavy weapons and use against the nation, are rascals, traitors and dishonest,” Erdogan said.
Urging Turks to not leave the streets until further notice, Erdogan stressed that “FETO is a virus that has metastasized.”
“It might proliferate some place where you would not expect. We are obligated to minimize it so that we can continue on our path safely. They know how to hide themselves very well,” he added.
The president also slammed biased coverage of the coup attempt by Western media, saying that “If the West really advocates democracy, it shouldn’t send ambivalent, allusive condemnation messages.”
Those taken into custody following the coup attempt were detained on the basis of “urgent suspicion,” not arbitrary motivations, Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said in an exclusive interview with the BBC.
“If their relation with the group can’t be determined, no step is being taken. Arrests without proper basis are beside the mark. We are very careful,” Canikli said. “They are people who will do anything with instruction from their leader. In this respect they are very dangerous and they have hundreds of thousands of members. Each one of them is a potential threat.”
Turkey urged Pakistan to shut down some 21 institutions allegedly funded by Fethullah Gulen, the US-based religious leader whom Ankara accuses of masterminding the failed coup.
“We have called on all friendly countries to prevent activities of this [Gulen’s] group,” Turkish Ambassador Sadik Babur Girgin said at a media briefing on developments in Turkey, Pakistan’s DAWN reported. Stressing that Gulen had a “big presence in Pakistan”, Girgin said Turkey had been in close contact with Pakistani authorities, where they have “good cooperation with Pakistan in every field.”
Weapons thought to have been used by rogue troops to storm President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s holiday hotel were recovered by gendarmes in southwestern Turkey, sources told Anadolu Agency
The equipment reportedly included 12 assault rifles, six cartridge clips and three grenades. The stash was discovered in a forested area near the Grand Yazici Marmaris Hotel outside Marmaris, where Erdogan was vacationing with his family at the time of the coup attempt.
On Monday, gendarmes already seized assault rifles, handguns, grenades, ammunition and other hardware near the hotel.
An Ankara court approved a joint indictment of 73 suspects, including the US-based preacher Fetullah Gulen, alleging links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), suspected of being behind the coup attempt, a Turkish judicial official told Anadolu Agency.
Authorities in Turkey detained 283 members of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidential guard, an anonymous government official told AFP. The elite security force tasked with the wellbeing of the President has some 2,500 members.
The official added that Ankara also canceled over 10,850 passports of state officials “due to flight risk with the holders either in custody or on the run.”
More than 1,500 educational institutions with alleged links to Fethullah Gulen will be closed down, Turkey’s Ministry of National Education announced.
The Ministry says that some 936 private schools, 449 private dormitories, 284 other educational institutions are in “violation of constitutional order” for having ties with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) allegedly led by the US-based religious leader.
Earlier the ministry announced that 21,738 of its civil servants had been suspended of their duties, out of which 21,029 of which were teachers.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Berlin to march against the Turkish government’s response to the July 15 failed coup attempt. Protesters chanted slogans against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and waved Kurdish flags as they marched.
22 July 2016
US President Barack Obama has rejected accusations of any prior knowledge to the coup attempt, saying that such reports are “completely false, unequivocally false.”
“[Erdogan]needs to make sure that not just he but everybody in his government understand that those reports are false,” Obama said at the White House.
Concerning Turkey’s petition to extradite Fethullah Gulen, Obama said that US needs to have more evidence to consider a possible extradition.
“We have a process here in the United States for dealing with extradition requests made by foreign governments,” Obama said when asked about Turkey at a news conference after meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. “It’s governed by treaties, it is governed by laws. It is not a decision that I make.”
After the overhaul of the military, Turkish gendarmerie would join the interior ministry and not the army, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said.
“The gendarmerie will definitely be dependent entirely on the interior ministry,” Ala said, as quoted by Anadolu news agency.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a two-hour meeting with the chief of Turkey’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) Hakan Fidan at the presidential palace, Turkish television reported.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Washington not to let Fetullah Gulen flee to any other country, as the US judiciary considers the Turkish extradition petition.
“We want to bring the ringleader of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization [FETO] to Turkey. Our demands from the IS are very simple. You cannot hold this person who perpetrated a coup attempt there,” he said Friday.
The risk of another coup in Turkey still exists, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday, stressing the Turks have nothing to be fearful of. "The danger has not ended but our citizens should not be anxious," Yildirim told reporters. He insisted the Turkish authorities are respecting the rule of law and have no desire for revenge in dealing with the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.
Turkish servicemen who defected to Greece after the failed military coup attempt have no right whatsoever to claim asylum there, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. "The plotters ... have no right to claim political asylum [in Greece] as they have been involved in a coup," he told state broadcaster TRT on Friday. "We expect that the Greek authorities would cooperate and extradite those traitors back to their homeland within existing legal procedures."
Following the coup attempt authorities went on to detain more than 10,400 suspects, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chairman announced
“10,410 suspects, including 287 police officers, 7,423 soldiers, 2,014 judiciary members and 686 civilians have been taken into custody, so far,” Aktay told reporters Thursday.
A new coup attempt is still possible in Turkey because “separatists” and “terrorists” have potentially infiltrated the state structure, President Tayyip Erdogan has warned, claiming that the failings which led to the putsch mean a restructuring of the military is required.
Turkey claims to have “concrete evidence” that the followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen are behind the coup attempt. The Turkish Consulate General in Toronto, Erdeniz Sen made a statement to The Globe and Mail insisting that “necessary measures” be taken to combat Gulen’s supporters within Canada, without revealing further details.
The diplomat also defended the state of emergency in Turkey which began on Thursday, saying that such measures are needed to protect democracy.
“I don’t think we are sacrificing democracy. I think we are upholding democracy. That is why everything is going by law. The state of emergency is something in our constitution, it is something in international documents … all the detentions are within the existing legal context,” Sen said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to implement a "radical agenda" following the failed move to oust him from power, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview with a Cuban news agency. He compared Erdogan's policies to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt which focuses on radicalization. Assad said that such an agenda is dangerous for Turkey and neighboring states.
Thousands of Turks have gathered on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge to protest Friday's failed coup attempt.
Thousands of supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gathered Taksim Square, Istanbul, waving national flags and burning effigies of the alleged coup-plotter and exiled Cleric Muhammed Fethullah Gulen.
US Vice President Joe Biden urged Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to follow the rule of law to pursue the coup instigators.
"The vice president urged that the investigations into the coup's perpetrators be conducted in ways that reinforce public confidence in democratic institutions and the rule on law," the White House said in a statement following a phone conversation.
21 July 2016
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Turkish authorities to ensure that constitutional order and human rights are protected in the country following the coup. Ki-moon also expressed hope that procedures undertaken during the state of emergency will be carried out with full transparency.
“The Secretary-General urges the Turkish authorities, consistent with the assurances given, to do their utmost to ensure that the constitutional order and international human rights law are fully respected, in line with Turkey’s international obligations. These include the freedoms of expression, movement and peaceful assembly; independence of the judiciary and of the legal profession; and adherence to due process,” his office said in a statement.
Russia is to resume flights to Turkey on July 22 after Ankara reassured Moscow that it would be stepping up security measures, Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced.
The Turkish parliament ratified the three-month state of emergency initiated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following a meeting with the National Security Council on Wednesday. In a 346 to 115 vote on Thursday, the deputies implemented the emergency powers of the state.
“This motion of [the state of emergency] applies to the state itself, not the nation,” said Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim after the vote. “With this motion, the gangs of FETO terror movement [Fetullah Terrorist Organization] banding together within the state for years, will be wiped out. These forces targeting democracy and the future of the state will be eliminated forever.”
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Thursday urged Turkey to respect the rule of law, rights and freedoms after declaring a state of emergency following a failed military coup. The EU is "concerned" about developments after Turkey imposed emergency rule earlier in the day and measures taken so far in the fields of education, judiciary and media are "unacceptable", Mogherini and Hahn said in a statement. (Reuters)
The ruling AK Party had always supported the exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the person it now accuses of orchestrating the failed coup against Erdogan’s government, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek commented to Reuters. "As soon as President Tayyip Erdogan saw the threat [posed by Gulen's supporters] he gave the necessary response. We had thought they were doing something good for the country," he said. Gulen, a former ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogdan, continues to maintain his innocence. According to Simsek, there are still 1,000 soldiers in hiding.
Eight Turkish soldiers, three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors who all fled to Greece in a military helicopter following the failed coup fear they will be killed if they are sent home, the soldiers’ lawyer said, as cited by Reuters.
“They believe that, one way or another, they will lose their lives [in Turkey],” said Vasiliki Ilia Marinaki. “Regardless of whether the death penalty is imposed or not, they believe that in the end they will be killed.”
A Greek court has on Thursday handed suspended sentences to eight Turkish military officers who fled last week’s coup attempt and requested asylum in Greece, where they will remain until their cases are heard. They received two months in suspended sentences each, according to AFP. Ankara is currently searching for the officers to try them at home.
Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmus, said he hopes the state of emergency in the country will be ended in a month and a half. However, during this period the European Convention on Human Rights will be temporarily suspended.
A Turkish whistleblower account on Twitter called ‘Fuat Avni’ had taunted the government after it reported identifying and detaining the individual behind it.
“Did you arrest me again? (!) I am at my desk. When the Narcissist [President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – RT] closes my account, I will close his,” Fuat Avni tweeted hours after the arrest was reported.
Istanbul Police said Akif Mustafa Kocyigit was the person behind the account and that he was among the 10 people arrested over alleged connections to the account.
Turkey's democracy is stronger than ever after the failed military coup, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek told broadcaster NTV in an interview on Thursday. He said the coup attempt united Turks across the political spectrum. He added that the Turkish economy would weather the political turmoil and the three-month state of emergency declared this week.
A supporter holds a flag depicting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan during a pro-government demonstration in Ankara, Turkey, July 20, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
The Austrian Foreign Ministry has summoned the Turkish ambassador over Ankara’s links to recent demonstrations in Austria, staged after the failed coup attempt in Turkey. The ministry is to ask the ambassador if Turkish officials encouraged thousands of people in Austria to take to the streets over the past few days to support Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told ORF radio on Tuesday.
Russian intelligence had reportedly warned Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of plans for a government overthrow ahead of Friday night’s coup attempt, several Arab media outlets quoted diplomatic sources in Ankara as saying.
According to undisclosed sources, information about the coup came from Russian army intercepts in the region which captured sensitive Turkish army exchanges and encoded radio messages. Those intercepts revealed that the Turkish army had been readying to stage a coup against the administration in Ankara, and use army choppers to arrest President Erdogan's at the resort hotel.
The US Secretary of State John Kerry asked Ankara to present evidence against America-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
"With respect to Mr. Gulen, we have consistently said to our friends in Turkey, our allies in Turkey, that we need evidence," Kerry told reporters at the Pledging Conference in Support of Iraq in Washington. "We have a very strict set of requirements that have to be met for an extradition to take place."
Kerry added "we need to have evidence which we can then make a judgment about," rather than base decisions on “allegations.”
Turkey still has a strong military despite the purges in all wings of the armed forces following the coup attempt.
“Turkey has a large armed force, professional armed forces and ... I am certain they will continue as a committed and strong NATO ally,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenber told Reuters.
"It is important for all of us that Turkey continue to be a strong NATO ally because Turkey is on the border of all the instability, all the violence we have seen in Iraq and Syria," Stoltenberg added.
20 July 2016
Three more soldiers were reportedly arrested for allegedly taking part in the attack on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he was vacationing with his family in a hotel in Mugla province during the failed coup. Judicial sources told Anadolu Agency that Maj. Gen. Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates, 1st Lt. Hasan Arslanbay, and Sgt. Serkan Elci have been detained in Izmir province.
Turkish authorities went on to suspend 70 people from Turkey’s Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, Anadolu Agency reported citing a ministry official.
Turkey's Interior Ministry denied earlier reports that two coastguard vessels had been hijacked and appeared in Greek waters in the Aegean Sea.
“The reports on hijacked vessels are not true,” the statement released by the ministry read, Anadolu Agency reported.
Security checks and police patrols have intensified on the Greek island of Symi, Greece’s ERT television channel said, after reports in the Turkish media surfaced that some coup collaborators could escape into Greece. Citing Greek military sources, ERT reported that coastguard patrols had also increased.
Last Friday, trying to flee the failed attempt to seize power, eight Turkish military officers flew a helicopter to Greece where they were detained. They now await a court decision on their extradition to Turkey.
The Turkish ambassador in Brussels has been summoned by the Belgian government at short notice. Previously, the Turkish diplomatic mission accused regional Flemish authorities of having close ties to anti-Erdogan opposition activists.
“[I] asked the Turkish ambassador to come this afternoon to the foreign affairs office to explain the situation. It is the first step,” Prime Minister Charles Michel told parliament adding that “afterward, the government will see what action to take for something which is not acceptable.”
Foreign countries might have been involved in the failed coup attempt in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an interview with Al Jazeera, according to Reuters. The Turkish leader declined to specify which states he suspected of the alleged involvement.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Turkish leader claimed that the US and Turkey were still "strategic partners," saying that he did not want to link the issue of the NATO-used Incirlik airbase in Turkey and Ankara's request for the handover of the Muslim preacher.
US has previously said that Ankara must provide clear evidence of Gulen's involvement before it considers his extradition, with Erdogan now saying all the evidence is being given to its Western "partner."
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that if Washington chooses not to extradite self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused by Turkey’s president and his government of orchestrating the coup attempt, it would be a big mistake, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
"Erdogan is using the coup as an excuse to stage a real coup," professor at Zaytouneh University, Ibrahim Alloush told RT, adding that "most" of the people who were sacked from their jobs or who were arrested "had nothing to do with that coup."
"Basically, what's going on [in Turkey] is Erdogan trying to impose a thinly veiled theocracy, which is a true platform of Erdogan's AKP party. These people are an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and their platform is to recreate not only a religious state, but reincarnation of the Ottoman empire," Alloush said.
Criticism of President Erdogan’s response to the military coup attempt is the equivalent of “speaking to the US about failures of foreign policy” after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said Turkey’s presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, according to the Independent.
“We expelled this coup in the name of democracy. We got on to the streets and shed our blood. This should be underlined,” Kalin said.
“Our allies have unequivocally condemned the coup. When [other countries] start talking about how the law should be upheld, it sounds as if a coup didn’t happen,” the spokesman added.
Ratings agency S&P has downgraded Turkey's sovereign credit rating, Hurriyet reported.
"Following the attempted coup in the Republic of Turkey on July 15, we believe the polarisation of Turkey's political landscape has further eroded its institutional checks and balances," the agency said, warning of a "period of heightened unpredictability."
Turkey's Education Ministry has closed a total of 626 institutions, according to NTV.
A deputy police chief has committed suicide during a police suspension operation, Hurriyet reported.
The officer, identified as Mutlu C., shot himself after being suspended from his post and later died in hospital.
Turkish authorities have suspended around 6,500 staff members of the Turkish Education Ministry in a sweeping purge that came after the failed coup, a Turkish official reported, according to Reuters. More than 15,000 teachers from private institutions across Turkey were suspended earlier and 21,000 more had their licenses revoked. Around 50,000-60,000 soldiers, police officers, judges, teachers and civil servants were hit by the probe.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired a meeting of the security council composed of top military officials and security ministers at his presidential palace in Ankara for the first time since the coup attempt failed.
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks, has expressed his concerns over human rights and democracy violations in Turkey following the failed coup attempt.
“The authorities must bear in mind that there is no justice without human rights and the rule of law,” Muiznieks wrote in a statement.
The staggering number of arrests and suspensions among civil servants suspected of being involved in the coup, and the photos showing torture and ill treatment of possible plotters are very alarming, Muiznieks added.
“I am also very worried by allusions to the possible reinstatement of the death penalty despite Turkey’s clear international undertakings to the contrary,” Muiznieks added, responding to the recent statement made by Turkish President Erdogan regarding the possibility of the return of capital punishment.
Turkey's defense ministry is investigating all judges and prosecutors in the country and has suspended 262 of them, NTV reported.
Turkey is set to announce emergency measures later on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The announcement will take place after President Erdogan chairs meetings of the cabinet and National Security Council.
Responding to the media purge in Turkey, Amnesty International has called on authorities to respect human rights and to not restrict freedom of expression.
"As the sweeping crackdown in Turkey following a failed coup continues, Amnesty International fears that purges are being extended to censor media houses and journalists, including those critical of government policy," Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s Turkey researcher, said in a statement.
“We are witnessing a crackdown of exceptional proportions in Turkey at the moment. While it is understandable, and legitimate, that the government wishes to investigate and punish those responsible for this bloody coup attempt, they must abide by the rule of law and respect freedom of expression,” he continued.
Turkey's High Education Board has suspended four university rectors, NTV reported.
Ankara's police department has suspended 900 officers on suspicion of having links to Gulen, an official told Reuters.
A petition aimed at "defending academic freedom in Turkey" has been launched on Change.org, following the travel ban placed on academics.
"In light of the fundamental importance of academic freedom to sustaining and building a healthy and well-informed democracy, we call for the immediate revocation of this ban and express our solidarity with academic colleagues across Turkey," the petition reads.
The petition was created by Fiona de Londras, a professor of global legal studies at the University of Birmingham in the UK.
Turkish authorities have formally charged 99 of the country's roughly 360 military generals for their alleged role in the military coup, two Turkish officials told Reuters.
Fourteen additional generals remain in detention.
A new banner in Istanbul's Taksim Square reads: "Feto [exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen], Dog of Satan, we will hang you and your dogs by your own leashes."
Aeroflot has stopped selling Russian citizens tickets to Turkey. It follows a ban from the Russian aviation authority Rosaviation.
"Passengers booked on flights to Turkey starting from July 16, 2016 till July 20, 2016 (inclusive) are entitled to cancel their tickets for a full refund or exchange them for other flights (but no later than August 20, 2016) without penalties,” said a statement from Aeroflot.
Foreigners can still purchase tickets from Russia to Turkey, and anyone can fly from Turkey to Russia.
Turkey's High Education Board has prohibited all academics from traveling abroad, according to TRT.
The ban is aimed at preventing alleged coup plotters in universities from escaping, according to a Turkish government official cited by Reuters.
Turkey has blocked access to WikiLeaks, after the whistleblowing website released a cache of around 300,000 government emails following last weekend's attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Reuters reported.