- More than 130 people have been arrested in connection with the plot, but the abrupt turn of events left President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s grip on power uncertain.
- The coup attempt plunged Turkey into chaos and left dozens dead in a nation that is a crucial American ally. Turkey is the front line and home base for much of the coalition’s operations in neighboring Syria and, thus, in the fight against ISIS.
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| Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan |
Branches of the police and army fought pitched battles for control of government buildings in the streets of the capital, Ankara, and protesters confronted tanks in Istanbul as Turkey, a major NATO member spun out of control.
At least 42 people were killed in the violence in Ankara, including a lawmaker who died when the parliament was bombed by a helicopter, Turkish officials said.
Emerging in Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the plotters: “This latest action is an action of treason, and they will have to pay heavily for that.
”Erdogan always feared a coup. He was proved right. His paranoia seemed a political calculation, but maybe he had a point."
“Turkey has a democratically elected government and president,” Erdoğan said after landing. “We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.”
Huge crowds of Turks defied a military curfew, gathering to oppose the coup by swarming around military vehicles and in some cases lying down in front of them. A series of opposition leaders, normally critical of Erdoğan’s increasingly autocratic ways, also issued supportive statements. A leading pro-Kurdish party, the People’s Democratic party (HDP), said: “The only solution is democratic politics.”
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| Dissident Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish cleric |
JULY 16, 2016
In total, 2,839 members of the armed forces have been arrested, among them 29 colonels and five generals.
- Erdoğan blames the coup on factions loyal to dissident Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Turkish cleric who is a former ally turned prominent critic of his home country’s president.
- Gülen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania, strenuously denies any involvement in the coup. The cleric, who heads the Hizmet movement, is an influential figures among Turks at home and abroad, frequently accused by Erdoğan of trying to destabilise his government. The President, speaking to hundreds of flag-waving supporters outside his home in Istanbul on Saturday evening, declared that “the strong aren’t always right, but the right are always strong.” He called on the United States to arrest Fethullah Gülen.
- The president vows to round up and punish those behind the military revolt, as his government announces hundreds of people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement, including senior colonels and generals.
- The post-coup crackdown spreads beyond the military as Turkish media reported that 2,745 judges have been removed from duty. Five members of HSYK, Turkey’s highest judiciary board, were also removed, state-run Anadolu Agency reports.
- Gülen, the cleric blamed by Erdogan for leading the failed coup, denies any involvement in the uprising. A statement released by Reuters says he “categorically denies” the claims that he orchestrated the coup, and argues power should be won through free and fair elections.
By Saturday it was clear the coup had failed. The night’s events came to be defined by images of plotters surrendering to crowds of pro-government forces. They emerged from tanks and trucks with their hands held above their heads . Some of them, bizarrely, were photographed in their underwear.
With the government saying it has arrested at least 6,000 alleged anti-government plotters, questions are being asked about how they were able to get as far as they did, who exactly the leaders were and what made them take action that night.
For many, the coup seemed badly organised. It involved senior officers from across Turkey – including Erdal Öztürk, general of the Third Army in Istanbul, and Adem Huduti, who led the Second Army based at the opposite end of the country. But it did not seem to involve all factions of the military, nor its most senior generals....“I’m surprised this attempt took place,” said Sinan Ülgen, Turkey analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The coup officers did not have enough backing within the military. It was done outside the chain of command, so they didn’t have enough resources to make it work.”
Erdoğan’s government was partly saved on Saturday morning by huge numbers of Turkish civilians, who defied a military curfew to fill the streets in protest at the ongoing coup, forcing the plotters to retreat.
Riding this wave of apparent popular backing, Erdoğan has begun a purge of the Turkish state, detaining at least 6,000 people since Saturday, including 29 of Turkey’s 300 generals. It follows a crackdown on civilians that was ongoing prior to the coup, and which may have played a part in its inception.
The country became deeply polarized in recent years between supporters of Mr. Erdogan’s Islamist government and those loyal to Turkey’s secular traditions, many wondered if the military would intervene. Some, quietly, had even hoped it would.
But once the coup was attempted, people in the country, even those bitterly opposed to Mr. Erdogan, seemed to have no desire for a return to military rule. Turks across the political spectrum, including the main opposition parties that represent secular Turks, nationalists and Kurds, opposed the coup. So did many top generals, highlighting that the attempt apparently did not have deep support even in the military.
Secretary of State John Kerry said that Turkey should produce evidence of Gülen’s guilt, amid concerns that Erdoğan was using the aftermath of the coup to settle scores with enemies both at home and abroad. “We would invite the government of Turkey, as we always do, to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny,”
Bombing raids on Syrian outposts of Islamic State, which were suspended after it was claimed that a group of Turkish soldiers were involved in the botched coup, resumed on Sunday from the base. There was no suggestion that US troops at the base were in any way involved.