Turkey can hold suspects without charge for up to 30 days under state of emergency

Time in custody can also be extended on the decision of a judge as part of new regulations issued by president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the country's failed coup.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) visits the Grand National Assembly, or parliament, in Ankara on July 22, 2016. Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout/EPA

ISTANBUL // Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued his first decrees under the new emergency powers now in force in the country following the failed coup a week ago.

Turkish authorities can hold suspects in detention without charge for up to 30 days under the state of emergency imposed after the attempt to oust the president. Time in custody can be extended on the decision of a judge. The new regulations was announced in the official gazette, where all laws and decrees appear when they come into force.

Human rights activists including Amnesty International warned Turkey against expanding the detention period, which in normal times stands at a maximum of four days.

The gazette statement also announced that 1,043 private schools and 1,229 associations and foundations will be shut down under the state of emergency.

The Erdogan government claimed the coup attempt was carried out by the organisation of preacher Fethullah Gulen, whose influence runs deep in the Turkish education and legal systems. The cleric, 75, lives in exile in Pennsylvania and has denied playing any role in inciting the attempted coup. Turkey has demanded his extradition from the United States and said it would have a dossier ready to submit to the US in ten days’ time.

Tens of thousands of people have been detained, sacked or suspended since the failed coup.

State-run media reported on Saturday that Turkey had detained a nephew of Mr Gulen, the first time one of the cleric’s relatives has been apprehended in the crackdown.

Muhammet Gulen was due to be taken to the capital Ankara after being detained in Erzurum, the eastern region where his uncle is said to have developed his deep convictions, close to his birthplace of Korucuk.

According to the Turkish authorities, 10,410 people have been detained so far, including mainly soldiers but also police, judges, prosecutors and civil servants.

Of those, 4,060 people have been charged and placed under arrest, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Among the latest to be remanded in custody is the governor of the Black Sea province of Sinop, Yasemin Ozata Cetinkaya, the only regional governor to be detained so far.

At least 295 members of Mr Erdogan’s presidential guard – more than over a tenth of its entire membership – have also been detained suspected of links to the coup, which killed 265 people, including 24 suspected plotters.

Meanwhile, 28 suspects detained over alleged links to a purportedly pro-Gulen whistle-blowing Twitter account called Fuat Avni have been sent to court to be remanded in custody, the Dogan news agency said.

But in its first major release of suspects amid global criticism of the crackdown, Turkey on Saturday set free 1,200 low-ranking soldiers in Ankara.

* Agence France-Presse