government is largely done with post coup crackdown october 13 2016 says the turkish government is largely done with its wave of post coup arrests detentions and sackings unless new evidence emerges dismisses accusations of torture and abuse of detainees as gulenist crap and says amnesty needs to get its facts right and do a little bit of homework claims bringing back the death penalty for coup plotters is not on the agenda comments on the current state of us turkey relations even within a family you get occasional disagreements washington d.c. 14th october in an interview with al jazeera english s current affairs show upfront turkey s deputy prime minister mehmet simsek said his government s wave of mass arrests and firings following the failed coup attempt in july is largely done . we are largely done simsek told upfront host mehdi hasan referring to the 40 000 detained and more than 80 000 others removed from their jobs across the country since july . but that doesn t mean that new evidence will not emerge simsek said.the turkish deputy pm defended his country s controversial sacking of tens of thousands of teachers and civil servants by citing a ruling from the european court of human rights saying when germany was unified germany sacked 500 000 civil servants thinking that those were stasi associated . they went to the court and the court concluded saying that every state has the right to expect maximum loyalty from its civil servants . when questioned about amnesty international reports that some of the detainees have been tortured and even sexually abused simsek dismissed the claims as gulenist crap . amnesty needs to get its facts right and do a little bit of homework said simsek . turkey has zero tolerance to torture he added . in the wide ranging interview hasan questioned simsek on the recent comment by turkish president recep tayyip erdogan that he would be willing to bring back the death penalty for coup plotters . it s not on the agenda right now simsek said . president erdogan is responding to popular demand he explained . we don t have the qualified majority to push reinstatement of death penalty through the parliament and the opposition is not onboard so it s not even part of consideration right now . on the subject of us turkey relations simsek responded to claims from several turkish politicians that the us was behind the coup and remain complicit by failing to extradite fethullah gulen who the erdogan government accuses of masterminding the failed coup back to turkey . we have not said america is behind the coup said simsek . even within a family you get occasional disagreements . because if you safeguard coup plotters clearly that won t go down well he explained . we reserve the right to disagree on certain issues but there are a lot of common interests and therefore a strong alliance that will continue . note to editors this upfront interview with mehmet simsek is airing friday october 14th at 19 30gmt . the full show will be available through this link www.aljazeera.com upfront from 19.30 gmt onwards . if using quotes please credit al jazeera english and upfront and please add this link to online copy www.aljazeera.com upfront upfront broadcasts on fridays at 19.30 gmt . follow upfront on twitter ajupfront for more information or media enquiries please contact pressoffice aljazeera.net al jazeera englishaj upfrontmehdi hasanaljazeera ajupfront read more us green party presidential candidate jill stein tells al jazeera her supporters should absolutely not vote for clinton to stop a trump presidency september 28 2016 u.s. green party presidential candidate jill stein tells mehdi hasan that her supporters should absolutely not vote for hillary clinton to stop a donald trump presidency even in a swing state . it will be horrific if trump wins but i am not at all reassured by the policies of hillary clinton . hillary clinton is not different enough from donald trump that she or the democratic party are going to save your job save your life or save the planet . we have two ways to commit suicide here and i say no thank you to them both . it s great that they russia and u.s. are collaborating but they should be collaborating on a weapons embargo and on an embargo against the funding of terrorist enterprises . washington d.c. 30th september ahead of the 2016 u.s. presidential election mehdi hasan speaks with green party candidate jill stein on al jazeera english s upfront about her drive to seek the country s highest office and whether her campaign will by default lead to a donald trump presidency . i have no illusions that the democratic or republican parties are going to fix this . we are the ones we ve been waiting for jill stein told mehdi referring to a trajectory of environmental degradation unemployment and an outsized influence of corporations . i will feel terrible if we do not fight with every ounce of our bodies and every ounce of our spirit to establish the democracy which is essential if we are going to get out of here alive stein stressed.jill stein is currently polling around three or four percent . due to these low numbers she has been shut out of the presidential debates along with libertarian candidate gary johnson.given the low likelihood of winning mehdi pressed stein on who she would prefer to see as president republican candidate donald trump or democratic candidate hillary clinton . it s not a matter of not liking them she said declining to choose either candidate . it s that in this election we re not just deciding what kind of a future we will have but whether we will have a future at all . mehdi asked stein how comfortable she would be knowing that a vote for her might usher in a tip in the scales for trump . it will be horrific if trump wins but i am not at all reassured by the policies of hillary clinton she said.stein refused to endorse one candidate over the other stating that neither candidate is better than the other and that a large number of americans are unhappy with either choice from the major political parties . hillary clinton is not different enough from donald trump that she or the democratic party are going to save your job save your life or save the planet the green party candidate insisted . we have two ways to commit suicide here and i say no thank you to them both . turning to foreign policy mehdi pointed out that her visit with vladimir putin earlier this year drew criticism from two leading russian environmentalists . they accused her of being too soft on the russian president something stein flatly denied . i went there to criticize vladimir putin for his extremely ineffective war policy which i would put together with that of the u.s. in fact the u.s. is collaborating with russia now in this bombing campaign . it s great that they re collaborating but they should be collaborating on a weapons embargo and on an embargo against the funding of terrorist enterprises . note to editors this upfront interview with jill stein airs friday 30 september at 19 30gmt . the full show will be available through this link www.aljazeera.com upfront from 19.30 gmt onwards . if using quotes please credit al jazeera english and upfront and please add this link to online copy www.aljazeera.com upfront upfront broadcasts on fridays at 19.30 gmt . follow upfront on twitter ajupfront for more information or media enquiries please contact pressoffice aljazeera.net al jazeera englishmehdi hasanal jazeera upfrontajupfrontjill steinus elections 2016 read more un special envoy tells al jazeera airstrikes on aleppo a return to open conflict september 23 2016 the un special envoy for syria staffan de mistura speaks with upfront s mehdi hasan in an exclusive sit down interview says the syrian crisis is the worst humanitarian tragedy since the second world war calls friday s airstrikes on aleppo a return to open conflict highlights the proxy nature of the war i ve never seen so many players with so many different agendas believes the russians were genuine when they negotiated with the americans and genuine in their concerns about terrorists in syria defends the un s relationship with assad i ve been shaking the hands of many many unpleasant people in my life everybody recognizes jabhat al nusra is al qaeda washington dc 23rd september in an interview with al jazeera english s current affairs show upfront staffan de mistura the un s special envoy for syria spoke frankly about the violence in syria and ongoing attempts to secure a sustainable ceasefire . as far as i m concerned this is considered the worst humanitarian tragedy since the second world war de mistura told upfront host mehdi hasan calling friday s airstrikes on eastern aleppo a return to open conflict . in his 46 years and 19 wars with the un including iraq afghanistan and the balkans he added i ve never seen so many players with so many different agendas like in this conflict . speaking from new york during the week of the united nations general assembly and the day after what he called disappointing talks between the russians and americans de mistura argued that the russians in my mind were genuine in my opinion when they negotiated with the americans on this . he continued i don t think russia and i want to believe that has any interest in inheriting a broken country which is basically the concept you break it you own it . according to the un special envoy i think the russians are genuine in their concerns about terrorist organizations . de mistura also gave his opinion on the controversial syrian rebel group jabhat fateh al sham formerly jabhat al nusra saying everybody recognizes al nusra is al qaeda regardless whether they changed the name . pressed on recent reports in the guardian newspaper that the united nations has been too close to the assad family and to supporters of the syrian regime de mistura passionately defended the un . look at this hand can you see it i ve been shaking the hands of many many unpleasant people in my life he said . that means sometimes accepting what we don t like to accept dealing with those who are actually stopping the aid and being able to deliver it anyway . when we are in damascus we have to deal with those in damascus . he continued . when the convoy comes across the line you think that our colleagues are not dealing with insurgents referring to the syrian refugee crisis the un special envoy told host hasan brexit in a way is one of the victims indirectly of the syrian conflict . de mistura concluded the interview saying we will never abandon a patient because the pain needs to be reduced and the patient kept alive . the syrian people deserve that . ends notes for editors this upfront interview with staffan de mistura airs friday september 23rd at 19 30 gmt if using quotes please credit al jazeera english and upfront and please add this link to online copy www.aljazeera.com upfront upfront broadcasts on fridays at 19.30 gmt . follow upfront on twitter ajupfront . for more information or media enquiries please contact pressoffice aljazeera.net staffan de misturamehdi hasanupfrontajenglishal jazeera upfront read more al jazeera english expands digital access for u.s. audiences september 21 2016 award winning international news and current affairs channel offering free livestream on demand video and in depth contentwashington dc september 21 2016 al jazeera media network announced that it has resumed making al jazeera english its multi award winning news and current affairs channel available free to u.s. audiences through aljazeera.com and across