Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim Tuesday warned against exacting revenge on supporters of the failed coup, as Ankara arrested top generals in a relentless crackdown that has sparked global alarm.
Erdogan has denounced the coup bid, which left more than 300 dead on all sides, as a treacherous bid to oust him from power devised from the U.S. compound of his arch-enemy, exiled Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
But with the authorities detaining over 7,500 people so far in a massive legal crackdown and sacking almost 9,000 people, Turkey's EU and NATO allies have urged Ankara to keep the rule of law in place.
Erdogan's suggestion that the death penalty could be reinstated has sent shudders through Europe and sparked warnings such a move would be the nail in the coffin of its already embattled bid to join the EU.
An Ankara court late Monday placed under arrest 26 former generals suspected of planning Friday's attempted power grab, including former air force chief General Akin Ozturk, whom some Turkish media have painted as the mastermind of the plot.
The generals have now been put behind bars ahead of their trials, a date for which has not been sent.
They have been charged with crimes including seeking to overturn the constitutional order, leading an armed group and seeking to assassinate the president.
