Nearly 9000 police officers, bureaucrats and others were detained in Turkey as part of the crackdown by the government following the failed military coup on Saturday. The state-run Anadolu news agency said a total of 8,777 employees, including 30 governors, 52 civil service inspectors and 16 legal advisers were dismissed by the Turkish Interior Ministry. News of the firings and detentions came as the US and European Union urged the government to uphold democracy and human rights as it pursues the military officers and anyone else involved in the coup attempt. [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news Other media reports said police and military police officers and coast guards were also removed from duty. The government has blamed Friday's failed coup which it says killed 208 government supporters and 24 plotters on backers of a US-based Muslim cleric who has become President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief opponent. The situation creates a sticky diplomatic situation; Turkey is a NATO member and key Western ally in the fight against the Islamic State group, but the EU and US expressed alarm today about its response to the coup. Even before the weekend chaos, Turkey had been wracked by political turmoil that critics blamed on Erdogan's increasingly heavy-handed rule. EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn had stated that it appears Turkey's government "prepared'' arrest lists before the weekend coup attempt and had been waiting for the right moment. "This is no excuse to take the country away from fundamental rights and the rule of law, and we will be extremely vigilant on that," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry. Comments from European Union Commissioner Johannes Hahn that Turkey had already compiled a list of judges and others it wanted rounded up before a failed military coup are "unacceptable", Turkey's foreign minister said on Monday. On his Twitter account, Mevlut Cavusoglu also said Turkey would never take a step back from its civil democratic achievements and rule of law. Earlier on Monday Hahn said: "It looks at least as if something has been prepared. The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage." Such comments were "unacceptable" Cavusoglu tweeted in Turkish. In English he added: "It seems that (Hahn) is far from thoroughly comprehending what is going on in Turkey. Our primary expectation from the EU & our allies is to support the democratic process in Turkey and strongly condemn the coup attempt." Turkish authorities have rounded up thousands of people in the judiciary, police and military since the attempt to topple the government failed on Saturday, sparking fears that President Tayyip Erdogan would use the opportunity to consolidate his power and further stifle dissent. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said a total of 7,543 people had been detained since Friday, including 6,030 military personnel. On Monday, according to Anadolu, prosecutors entered Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, which is key to the US-led campaign against the Islamic State group. A Turkish brigadier general at the base has already been detained for his alleged role in Friday's uprising, and news reports say refueling aircraft that took off from the base helped keep F-16s used by the coup-plotters up in the air. Though government officials offered reassurances that life has returned to normal, warplanes patrolled Turkey's skies overnight in a sign that authorities feared that the threat was not yet over. Anadolu said Erdogan ordered the overnight patrol by F-16s "for the control of the airspace and security" after a faction within the military launched the attempted coup.
