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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: 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.