Turkey - Coup / State of emergency - Erdogan: IS group likely behind airport attack / Tanks in stree

(21 Jul 2016) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeated that the Islamic State group "most probably" was behind the Istanbul airport attack, adding that its militants would end up "in hell." Speaking in Istanbul following Friday prayers, Erdogan said the extremist group claims to carry out acts in the name of Islam, but said it has nothing to do with the religion. June 28th's attack which was carried out by three suicide bombers, killed 44 and injured hundreds. Thirteen people, suspected of possible links to the attack, were detained in raids in three Istanbul neighborhoods on June 30th, officials said. Haber Turk newspaper said on its online edition that 11 more suspects, all of them foreign nationals, were detained in a separate raid on a house in Istanbul early on Friday. A government official in Istanbul could not immediately confirm the report. *** Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the nation on July 16th that his government is in charge after a coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead. The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers have been detained across the country. However, fighting continued throughout the morning, with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital, Ankara, and Istanbul, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex. Government officials said the coup appeared to have failed as Turks took to the streets overnight to confront troops attempting to take over the country. *** Soldiers accused of involvement in July 15th's failed coup attempt were escorted into an Istanbul court on July 20th. Worried family members waited outside the courthouse, checking to see if their missing relatives were among the uniformed men being taken off the buses. Authorities in Turkey have rounded up close to 9,000 people, including 115 generals, 350 officers and some 4,800 other military personnel, for alleged involvement in the coup attempt the previous week. In addition, tens of thousands of civil service employees, including teachers and police, have also been fired, accused of ties to the plot or suspected of links to a US-based cleric whom authorities accuse of being the behind the plot. The purges, which also reached Turkey's national intelligence service and the prime minister's office, were intended to blunt the alleged influence of the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. *** Turkish lawmakers convened in Ankara on July 21st to endorse sweeping new powers for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that would allow him to expand a crackdown in the wake of the previous week's failed coup. The 550-member parliament is set to approve Erdogan's request for a three-month state of emergency. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party account for 317 members in the chamber. In an address to the nation late on July 20th, Erdogan announced a Cabinet decision to seek the additional powers, saying the state of emergency would give the government the tools to rid the military of the "virus" of subversion. He didn't specify exactly what the state of emergency would entail. 01:01:06 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...