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Update: The coup appears to have been unsuccessful, and President Erdogan's plane is reportedly landing in Istanbul.
Update 2: Erdogan appears poised to reassert his power: "After the earlier recorded statement from Erdogan, the president is now addressing the media. He says the uprising was an act of treason and those responsible will pay a heavy price. It was carried out by a minority within the military who can't stomach unity of the country, Erdogan says. He says the uprising will be a reason to clean up the army."
Attempted military coup in Turkey
A faction of the Turkish military is attempting a coup in Turkey (alternative link) claiming that "democratic and secular rule of law has been eroded by the Erdogan government" and control is now in the hands of a "Peace Council". Reports of bridges over the Bosporos blocked to traffic, heavy police and military presence in Istanbul with exchanges of gunfire reported, low flying military aircraft over the city and all airports in the country are now closed. Social media services, Facebook, Twitter, etc., appear to have been blocked. President Erdogan is reportedly "safe" and expected to make a statement soon.
Turkey's military has officially declared a coup and said that it has "taken control of the country" [and] wants "to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated."
The military statement went on to say that "all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue."
[...] Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that a number of generals are involved in the takeover of the government. He vowed that the "perpetrators" will be contained, adding that the government "will never give up democracy". [...] Istanbul's Ataturk international airport has been shut down, and all flights have been cancelled.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/turkey-military-blocks-bridges-istanbul-160715195444742.html
Turkey Coup
The Turkish military traditionally considered itself the protector of the secular nature of the Turkish State. Since about 21:30h CET it appears they -- or at least a part of the Turkish Army -- has acted on this traditional role.
The bridges over the Bosporus, connecting the European and the Asian parts of Istanbul, have been occupied by the military -- soldiers shouting that a curfew has been imposed. Istanbul airport has been shut down, and the borders sealed off. Shots have been heard in the neigborhood of both Army Headquarters, and the headquarter of the ruling AKP party. Rumor has it that the Chief Staff of the Army -- an Erdogan sympathizer -- has been taken hostage in the Army Headquarters. Rumors are that military and police are standing opposed to each other in Istanbul, while Police and/or Army helicopters slowly circle over the city, and tanks have appeared in the streets.
The action isn't limited to Istanbul -- reports of unrest are also coming in from Izmir and Ankara.
Reports coming in from anonymous sources within the EU diplomatic services claim that a significant part of the Army is behind the coup, which appears to be well planned. President Erdogan, apparently currently in Mongolia, has called upon the Turkish people to go on the streets, negating the evening clock reported to be installed by the military.
The last military coup in Turkey dates from 1980.
Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2 Original Submission #3
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 15 2016, @10:10PM
Turkey is arguably as much an advanced Western-style country as Israel is. What's more, they are well positioned to become a major power within the next few decades.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday July 15 2016, @10:16PM
Jeez, and right after Erdogan kissed and made up with Russia.
I've heard the same thing you said from many people and used to believe that 10 years ago, but not now. What I want to see is proof that the Erdogan allies were aiding ISIS and involved in international crime.
This was brewing for years but I never expected it to actually happen. Well, here we are. Finally, some good news coming from that shithole that is the Middle East.
Seems that Erdogan became too much of a loose cannon for his puppet masters to contain, so he had to be taken out. Let's hope that Saudi Arabia is next...
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Friday July 15 2016, @10:25PM
And yes, the burning question now is: who is behind the coup? Russia or the U.S.?
Russia would love to have Turkey on its camp in response to NATO encroachment on its borders and for the same reason, the U.S. would like to deny Russia any influence over Turkey.
And with the news from France, I fear were approaching a new cold war, perhaps even a hot war over the Middle East, with the U.S. and NATO on one side and Russia and China on the other.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Friday July 15 2016, @10:29PM
Best bet is to wait and see what the usual suspect neocon pundits say about the coup leaders... if they hate the coup leaders, the coup leaders are probably the good guys and it was probably orchestrated by Russia.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by r1348 on Friday July 15 2016, @10:55PM
Turkey just issued a formal apology to Russia for the destruction of the Sukhoi plane in Syria, and Erdogan flew to Moscow to relax the relation between the states.
And Germany just denied political asylum to Erdogan.
So yes, your usual NATO stay-behind coup, my blind guess is Ergenekon [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by TheB on Friday July 15 2016, @10:55PM
The Guardian claimed the Gulen movement is responsible for the coop attempt.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/09/turkish-police-fethullah-gulen-network [theguardian.com]It's HQ is located in Pennsylvania.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday July 15 2016, @11:01PM
Maybe it is the military itself, I do not follow closely but did not Erdogan use newspeak to say he would meddle with the ground in Syria just a couple days ago? Which means he would probably piss off the Russians which already have Erdy in their little black book for one downed plane.
So the military, having to choose between igniting WWIII and deposing Erdy, chose the safest thing.
Or, it is the Russians who had enough.
Or, it is the continuation of the very suspect Arab spring where the west, pardon the USA first helps destabilizing, and then lets the ISIS fill the void.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Friday July 15 2016, @11:13PM
NEWSFLASH
The substitution of the existing government with a totalitarian antidemocratic military junta seems to have been a requirement to facilitate the entrance in the European Union, which recently has been losing a piece and needs suitably domesticated replacement.
*smacks forehead* of course!
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Friday July 15 2016, @11:45PM
Erdogan has been called totalitarian. Plus ça change...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/its-time-to-turn-our-backs-on-erdogans-turkey/article29183779/ [theglobeandmail.com]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 15 2016, @11:48PM
Turkey was mildly unwelcome in the EU before 2001.
Turkey rejection was one of the excuses to vote down the EU constitution in 2005.
Considering the recent involvement of Turkey in Syria, and the London/Madrid/Brussels/Paris attacks (and maybe Nice if it wasn't just a crazy loner), the odds of Turkey getting in the EU in the next 20 years are essentially nil.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 16 2016, @12:55AM
...not if they remove the theocratic elements and embrace secularism once again.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2016, @01:13AM
The only way their countries have a secular government for more than 5 minutes is with a dictator, which would prevent them from entering the EU.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Saturday July 16 2016, @01:16AM
"My neighbor stopped attracting both a nasty crowd and the cops, and he bought a clean car and mowed the lawn...
It will still be quite a little while before the wife lets him house-sit".
The Christian club isn't looking forward to admitting the non-Christian neighbor who would be the biggest country in the union, and add unpleasant neighbors. Geographically, it would cause more trouble too, as others non-Europeans could point to Turkey to try to join next.
During the Clinton years, this could have reluctantly happened, but since W launched his fear crusade, trying to expand the EU Eastward would blow up the whole thing and put the extreme-right in power in half the countries (not sure in which order).
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 16 2016, @01:30AM
What is this "Christian club" of which you speak? The leadership of European countries have outwardly embraced Islamic refugeeism even in the face of Islam-inspired murders. The point of that is to defeat the wills of their populace, rendering that populace politically useless, rather than do anything meaningful. Christian churches are the useful idiots bringing those Islamic savages into your country. The goal is to break your will, and until you have the balls to stand up and fight, then you will lose and be subject to horrors beyond your imagination.
Yes, Turqui is sitting on a prime-piece of real-estate, from the perspective of those stuck in the cold-war mentality. If your comment had any merit, then you'd address the unvetted self-destructive "refugee" policies civilized European nations embrace.
Remember, a lot of modern security policy with respect to clearance addresses minimizing embarassment rather than protecting the super-secret intergalactic hyperdrive technology.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday July 16 2016, @01:35AM
For those of you who wanted a link. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by kurenai.tsubasa on Saturday July 16 2016, @06:25AM
Won't happen. [cnn.com]
Now how could the lizard people advance the coming shitstorm if Turkey became a secularist 21st century state?
Sad it was over so quickly. What's it called? The Yinon plan or something…?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 16 2016, @02:06PM
Turkey has been a secular state since Attaturk. It's Erdogan who's been unwinding that. So a military coup to restore secularism would be a return to status quo ante.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Friday July 15 2016, @11:42PM
Russia and Turkey were getting friendlier the past days, Erdogan officially apologized for the plane. I don't think this was ignited by Russia. I don't think it makes sense for the West, either, to ignite a revolution there. Erdogan could have been removed more subtle, and destabilizing Turkey doesn't help at least Europe. Maybe it could help US to weaken Europe, but I don't think it outweighs the risks this adds to the war on Isis.
Maybe it was a reaction actually a Turkish internal affair? Erdogan did work on weakening the military, and the military in Turkey traditionally has the role of preserving secularization.
I think it would be good for Turkey if this revolution succeeds. Erdogan is a dangerous guy, [hurriyetdailynews.com], and might not have the academic title [bbc.co.uk] officially required according Turkish constitution to hold his office.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 16 2016, @02:05PM
No, no outside involvement is required. The Turkish military has done this several times in the past in similar circumstances. It's quite unique that the military has been the one absolute safeguard of secular Turkish democracy. The reason is it was Kemal Attaturk, the general behind the Ottoman victory at Gallipoli, that ended the sultanate and implemented secular democracy. He mandated equality for women, outlawed the fez for men and headcoverings for women, and basically fully expunged Sharia-type law from the society. He set up the military to make sure there was no backsliding.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by zocalo on Friday July 15 2016, @10:31PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday July 15 2016, @10:39PM
Actually, I can't think of any Turk group who'd like Daesh inside Turkey. Erdogan &co had provided important material support for ISIS (mostly with intentionally porous borders) to prevent the kurds from feeling too comfy in their de-facvto independent corners of Syria and Iraq.
And ISIS has been thoroughly incompetent at making gains anywhere the Sunni are not a majority.
I can't expect the Turk Generals will want to lose Kurdistan, but on the other hand they are not likely to support that ISIS chess game...
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Friday July 15 2016, @11:13PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 15 2016, @11:01PM
Depending on how quickly the situation gets under control and how policy towards the Kurds and Syria change, it could make things more stable after a short period of instability.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by zocalo on Friday July 15 2016, @11:55PM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday July 16 2016, @12:03AM
In the last few minutes seems like the tide is turning against the coup and the Prez has not fled the country. Check latest replies to story for more details.
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(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday July 16 2016, @12:37AM
I'm with you on that, EF. Erdogan has been far to cozy with DAESH. I just got out of bed, I'm still trying to assimilate some of the facts here - but I can say that Ataturk intended for the army to intervene if/when the government got overly theistic. Erdogan has crossed that line by supporting DAESH.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by deadstick on Friday July 15 2016, @10:20PM
Turkey is arguably as much an advanced Western-style country as Israel is
And Erdogan wants to damn well put a stop to that.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday July 15 2016, @10:45PM
Turkey is arguably as much an advanced Western-style country as Israel is.
That was the pitch they put out for International consumption, it is the sales pitch that got them into NATO and almost into the EU. But it wasn't quite true ten years ago, it was more an aspirational goal; and has bore no resemblance with the facts on the ground since Erdogan was elected. Now? Anybody who says they know has only told you they know nothing and should not be listened to. And that is scary.
We can hope it ends as well as the recent coup in Egypt, that they model this one on that successful takeover. Hope isn't a strategy though and we are effectively leaderless. Obama will prefer to side with Erdogan and the Islamists but will find enough resistance in the system to turn that impulse into meaningless words and inaction. Doing minimal harm isn't going to help. France is otherwise occupied, Mad Merkel in Germany isn't likely to be any help, and the British are also rather distracted. Bad. Bad. Bad. Of course the Turkish military probably decided to act now precisely because they figured this was their best opportunity.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday July 16 2016, @02:12PM
In this case, the military deposing Erdogan is a good thing as far as the West is concerned, because he is the one who has been taking Turkey in a direction more sympathetic to Islamic radicals. I know that's a hard thing for people to wrap their heads around, because we've all been told all our lives that military juntas = BAD. But in Turkey the military is the reset button set up by Attaturk to keep the country from backsliding into sectarian backwardness. As far as I know, it's unique in the world.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2016, @12:00AM
Not if they keep behaving like a banana republic. Just sayin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2016, @11:25AM
Turkey is arguably as much an advanced Western-style country as Israel is
You just had to bring in Israel as "an advanced western-style country", didn't you? In fact, that was the reason for your post: to say something allegedly positive about Israel. This is typical of government propagandists. Never let a good crisis go to waste.
Remember everyone, Israel practices apartheid, murders civilians, shoots at people on the streets, occupies land belonging to others, violates basic human rights, sends an entire military on stone-throwing protesters, runs over peaceful protesters with bulldozers, racially purifies its own country through genetic testing and so on.
The crimes committed by Israel and Jews is endless. They are the ones that gave us ISIS. They are the ones that gave us WW I, WW II, and now looks like WW III.
Western-style country my ass.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 16 2016, @11:28AM
And also, Turkey is in a way similar to Israel in that both have no respect for human rights. Both bomb the hell out of civilians, destroy their homes and murder them. Both support ISIS.