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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday declared a three-month state of emergency in Turkey in order to hunt down all those deemed to be behind an attempted coup.
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The state of emergency was needed "in order to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organisation involved in the coup attempt," he said at the presidential palace in Ankara.
Erdogan added that the state of emergency is a measure "against the terror threat facing our country."
Turkey has accused the group of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup and acting as a terrorist group. Gulen vehemently denies the charges.
The announcement followed long meetings of Turkey's national security council and Cabinet chaired by Erdogan at the presidential palace.
Erdogan vowed that democracy would not be compromised in Turkey.
"We have never made compromises on democracy. And we will never make" them, Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara.
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