Troops clash with public, more than 250 killed
Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday, after crushing a military coup by discontented soldiers seeking to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan using tanks and attack helicopters. According to latest reports, more than 250 people have died and 1,440 wounded.
Friday’s putsch bid began late Friday, with a military statement saying forces had seized control “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for law and order to be reinstated.” Soon, rebel F-16 jets were screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks had taken to the streets and there were explosions throughout the night.
Mr Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. He flew home early Saturday and declared the coup to have failed.
“They have pointed the people’s guns against the people. The President, whom 52 per cent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge,” Mr Erdogan told large crowds after landing at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
“We should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment,” Mr Erdogan warned on Twitter on Saturday.
Addressing thousands of flag-waving supporters at the airport, Mr Erdogan pinned the blame on “the parallel state” and “Pennsylvania” — a reference to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who is Mr Erdogan’s arch enemy and whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.
Mr Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the US, once supported Mr Erdogan but is now his leading adversary. He, however, condemned the attempted coup and said he played no role in it. “As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations,” Mr Gulen said in a statement.
In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Mr Erdogan frequently took to social media, even though he is an avowed enemy of the technology when his opponents use it and frequently targets Twitter and Facebook and urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible “flare-up”.
Large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Mr Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied the coup leaders’ orders of a curfew and flooded the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.
Turks have not seen such scenes since 1980 when the military led by General Kenan Evren ousted the government and many had no desire to revive these memories.
There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with much smaller numbers welcoming the troops. “The people are afraid of a military government,” a 38-year-old man who gave his name as Dogan told AFP. “Most of them have been in military service, they know what a military government would mean.”
After facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Mr Erdogan, a polarising figure whose Islamist-rooted ideology lies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey’s secular principles, said, “They will pay a heavy price for this. This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our Army.”
No time was lost in rounding up 2,839 soldiers over alleged involvement amid concerns of the extent of the retribution.
Described the night as “a black mark on Turkish democracy,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara office, flanked by Turkey’s top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters, that “the situation is completely under control” and that the perpetrators “will receive every punishment they deserve.”
General Umit Dundar, who stood in as acting chief of staff while Hulusi Akar was being held by the rebels, said 104 coup plotters has been killed. Akar was later rescued in an operation that marked the end of the plotters’ hopes.
The President’s critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey’s secular roots and of sliding into authoritarianism — but he was believed to have won control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.
Turkey’s once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923. It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.
The military did not appear unified on Saturday, as top commanders went on television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.
The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey’s main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government. Gen. Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.
NTV television showed a Turkish colonel and other soldiers on their knees being searched and taken into custody at military headquarters. The Hurriyet newspaper, quoting investigators, said some privates told them they were not even aware they were part of a coup attempt but thought they were on military maneuvers.
Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara, the capital.
A successful overthrow of Mr Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged Turkey’s southern neighbour Syria in to civil war.
Though a polarising figure, he also commands the admiration and loyalty of millions of Turks, particularly for restoring order to an economy once beset by regular crises. Living standards have risen steadily under his rule, and while the economy has hit serious problems in recent years, it grew a greater-than-expected 4.8 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter.
Fadi Hakura, a Turkey expert at the Chatham House think tank in London, said it was not clear who was behind the attempted coup, but it appeared to have been “carried out by lower-ranking officers — at the level of colonel.”
“Their main gripe seems to have been President Erdogan’s attempt to transform his office into a powerful and centralized executive presidency,” Hakura said. “I think in the short term this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan, particularly in his drive to turn his office into a strong and centralized executive presidency.”
