Turkish Deputy PM tells Upfront his government is “largely done” with post-coup crackdown

• Says the Turkish government is  “largely done” with its wave of post-coup arrests, detentions and sackings “unless new evidence emerges”
• Dismisses accusations of torture and abuse of detainees as “Gulenist crap” and says “Amnesty needs to get its facts right and do a little bit of homework”
• Claims bringing back the death penalty for coup-plotters is “not on the agenda”
• Comments on the current state of US-Turkey relations: “Even within a family you get occasional disagreements”

(Washington, D.C. – 14th October) In an interview with Al Jazeera English’s current affairs show: ‘UpFront’, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mehmet Simsek, said his government’s wave of mass arrests and firings following the failed coup attempt in July is “largely done”.

“We are largely done,” Simsek told ‘UpFront’ host Mehdi Hasan, referring to the 40,000 detained and more than 80,000 others removed from their jobs, across the country, since July. “But that doesn’t mean that new evidence will not emerge,” Simsek said.

The Turkish Deputy PM defended his country’s controversial sacking of tens of thousands of teachers and civil servants by citing a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights, saying, “When Germany was unified, Germany sacked 500,000 civil servants thinking that those were Stasi-associated. They went to the court…and the court concluded saying that every state has the right to expect maximum loyalty from its civil servants.”

When questioned about Amnesty International reports that some of the detainees have been tortured and even sexually abused, Simsek dismissed the claims as “Gulenist crap”.

“Amnesty needs to get its facts right and do a little bit of homework,” said Simsek.

“Turkey has zero tolerance to torture,” he added.  

In the wide-ranging interview, Hasan questioned Simsek on the recent comment by Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would be willing to bring back the death penalty for coup-plotters.

“It’s not on the agenda right now,” Simsek said.

“President Erdogan is responding to popular demand,” he explained. “We don’t have the qualified majority to push reinstatement of death penalty through the parliament, and the opposition is not onboard so it’s not even part of consideration right now.”

On the subject of US-Turkey relations, Simsek responded to claims from several Turkish politicians that the US was behind the coup and remain complicit by failing to extradite Fethullah Gulen - who the Erdogan government accuses of masterminding the failed coup - back to Turkey.

“We have not said America is behind the coup,” said Simsek. “Even within a family you get occasional disagreements.”

“Because if you safeguard coup plotters, clearly that won’t go down well,” he explained. “We reserve the right to disagree on certain issues, but there are a lot of common interests and therefore a strong alliance that will continue.”

Note to Editors

·       This ‘UpFront’ interview with Mehmet Simsek is airing Friday October 14th at 19:30GMT.

·       The full show will be available through this link: www.aljazeera.com/upfront from 19.30GMT onwards.

·       If using quotes please credit Al Jazeera English and ‘UpFront’ and please add this link to online copywww.aljazeera.com/upfront

·       UpFront broadcasts on Fridays at 19.30 GMT. Follow ‘UpFront’ on Twitter@AJUpFront