AKIPRESS.COM - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared a three-month state of emergency following a failed coup in the country, according to PressTV.

During a live speech delivered from Ankara on Wednesday, Erdoğan said the state of emergency was required “to remove swiftly all the elements of the terrorist organization involved in the coup attempt.”

He further promised that the special measures, which vastly increase state security powers, would not be a “compromise on democracy.”

“The aim is to rapidly and effectively take all steps needed to eliminate the threat against democracy, the rule of law and the people's rights and freedoms," he added.

Erdoğan also claimed that U.S.-based Fethullah Gülen was behind the coup.

Gülen has denied any role in the coup attempt, warning the Turks instead that the move could have been orchestrated by the government to purge its opponents.

The Turkish president made the announcement after he chaired a meeting of the National Security Council at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Earlier in the day, he noted that the recent coup attempt may not be fully over yet, and that foreign countries may have been involved in the attempt.

Meanwhile, Turkey has arrested two members of the country’s constitutional court along with 111 other judiciary officials. Erdoğan’s chief aide-de-camp has also been formerly charged in relation to the coup.