Just days after a failed military coup that broke out into deadly violence, talks of reintroducing the death penalty have revived and more than 7,000 peoplehave been arrested, many of whom were detained in horse stables, stripped to the waist in humiliation.
Erdogan is wasting no time to "cleanse" the country's security forces of "viruses," as he put it, vowing that those behind the attempt to overthrow his government "will pay a very heavy price for this act of treason."
The Turkish Interior Ministry has been gutted, with 8,777 officers removed from office, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, adding that the majority were police officers.
Of those arrested, 103 are generals and admirals, a third of the general-rank command of the Turkish military, according to Anadolu,
Judges, lawyers, senior aides and police are among those detained, and eight soldiers who fled to Greece are waiting to hear their fate, with no bilateral extradition agreement between the countries.
Erdogan supporters capture a Turkish army vehicle after soldiers surrendered Saturday.
Erdogan, who was on holiday at the time, used FaceTime to mobilize the Turkish people onto the streets to challenge the military, as they rolled their tanks onto the streets of Ankara and Istanbul on Friday night.
Dozens die within hours
By Monday, the death toll was at 232, including 24 "coup plotters," according to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. Officials earlier said at least 290 people had been killed and did not explain the reason the death toll had been overstated.Another 1,400 were injured. Coup attempt: Five key questions answered
Yildirim also warned of repercussions, saying on Twitter that "every single drop of blood shed will be accounted for in such a harsh way."
Anadolu reported that Cemil Candas, deputy mayor of the Sisli district in Istanbul, was shot in the head Monday and is in critical condition. It was not clear who targeted him or why.
Death penalty = No EU membership
Erdogan's iron-fist crackdown on those behind the attempted coup has raised questions of the state of Turkey's democracy.
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