Turkey coup: 6,000 people detained in 'clean-up operation'

Turkey has detained 6,000 people in a government crackdown over a deadly botched military coup, it emerged today.

The sweep was carried out after at least 265 people died and over 1,400 were wounded during a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire during the attempted coup, which began on Friday night.

Three of the country's top generals have been detained, alongside hundreds of soldiers.

Turkey’s justice minister Bekir Bozdag described the arrests of alleged coup plotters and government opponents as a “clean-up operation”.

He also said he was confident that the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey.

Meanwhile, Turkey's president reported that he had spoken with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who said Moscow stood by "Turkey's elected government" and expressed his good wishes to the Turkish people.

A statement from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office said that the two leaders - who recently patched up relations following Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane - also agreed to meet face to face next month.

Mr Bozdag added that he was confident the United States would return Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkey.

The Turkish president has blamed Mr Gulen and his followers for the failed military coup on Friday night, but Mr Gulen denies any involvement or knowledge.

The US says it will look at any evidence Turkey has to offer against Mr Gulen, and judge accordingly.

Mr Bozdag said: "The United States would weaken itself by protecting him. It would harm its reputation. I don't think that at this hour, the United States would protect someone who carried out this act against Turkey."

Prayers were being read simultaneously from Turkey's 85,000 mosques to rally the country to defend its democracy and honour those who died during the coup.

The government has dismissed nearly 3,000 judges and prosecutors from their posts, while investigators were preparing court cases to send the conspirators to trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the government.

The botched coup, which saw warplanes fly over key government installations and tanks roll up in major cities briefly, ended hours later when loyal government forces including military and police regained control of the military and civilians took to the streets in support of Mr Erdogan.

Chanting, dancing and waving flags, tens of thousands of Turks marched through the streets to defend democracy and support the country's long-time leader.

It was an emotional display by Turks, who rallied in headscarves and long dresses, T-shirts and work boots, some walking hand in hand late on Saturday and early on Sunday with their children.

Rather than toppling Turkey's strongman president, the attempted coup appears to have bolstered Mr Erdogan's popularity and grip on power.