Photo: AP

Two days after a quelled military coup, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his administration have doubled down on vindictive rhetoric and going after their perceived enemies with a vengeance.

Since the coup was arrested on Saturday, some 6,000 people have been detained, according to Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, who told the state-run Anadolu Agency that this number is expected to rise.

Erdogan suggested on Saturday that he is considering reinstating the death penalty in Turkey, which has been abolished in the country since 2004.

“They will pay a heavy price for this,” Erdogan said of the military personnel who rose up against his administration, Reuters reports. “This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.”

CNN also reported that Erdogan told a crowd of people chanting “we want the death” penalty at a funeral on Sunday that the Turkish government, “can’t ignore the people’s request in a demonic—this is your right.”

“This virus will be cleaned form all departments of the government,” Erdogan said.

On Satuday, Erdogan demanded the immediate extradition of Fethullah Gulen, an influential Turkish cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, whom Erdogan believes is responsible for the uprising, a claim Gulen denies.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in a statement on Saturday, “Any country that stands behind [Gulen] is no friend of Turkey, is engaged in a serious war with Turkey.”

Secretary of State John Kerry has been clear from the outset that the United States will cooperate with Turkey’s investigation into the coup, including extraditing Gulen, provided they are shown evidence of his association with the uprising.