Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied his supporters outside a mosque in Ankara yesterday as the EU slammed his wide-ranging crackdown.

“Victory belongs to the faithful,” he told hundreds who gathered in the capital. Mr Erdogan declared July 15 — the date of the botched coup — a national holiday in remembrance of “martyrs” who were killed in the coup.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn urged Turkey “to respect under any circumstances the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

They called the government’s sackings of tens of thousands of people it alleges are linked to the coup “unacceptable.”

The opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) accused Mr Erdogan of imposing his ambition of a presidential system of government through the state of emergency, under which he will chair the council of ministers.

“Society has been forced to choose between a coup or an undemocratic government,” the HDP Central Executive Board said in a statement. “We absolutely deny these choices.”

Meanwhile authorities restored power to Incirlik Air Base — where the US Air Force has an arsenal of some 50 nuclear bombs — six days after it was cut off during the coup, leaving it reliant on diesel generators.

“We will retain this capability should the power be interrupted again,” the US command in Europe said in a statement.

The US has so far failed to extradite Mr Erdogan’s former ally, preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom the government tenuously claims was behind the takeover attempt.