ISTANBUL: Turkey on Saturday will hold an intense series of events to celebrate the first anniversary of the defeat of last year’s attempted coup, showcasing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power. Without hesitation, the authorities embarked on the biggest purge in Turkey’s history, arresting 50,000 people and sacking over 100,000 more. “From now on, nothing will be as it was before July 15,” Erdogan said in a speech on Thursday. Turkey remains under a state of emergency imposed on July 20, which has been renewed three times. At midnight local time (2100 GMT) people across Turkey will take part in “democracy watches”, rallies commemorating how people poured out into the streets.

Source: Manila Times July 15, 2017 03:45 UTC