sqishy
July 15th, 2016, 04:27 PM
Here I return because I happen to be here when I hear of the event very recently happening. (Excuse my news coverage style, if it helps.)
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From The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara:
Action taken to ‘reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms’, say armed forces
• Turkish PM Binali Yıldırım says security forces are tackling situation
• Military aircraft seen flying over capital and gunfire reported
________
[US relevance:]
John Kerry, the secretary of state, said he had heard the reports but could not comment. “I hope there will be stability and peace and continuity within Turkey,” he said while visiting Moscow.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, said: “The president’s national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey. The president will continue to receive regular updates.”
Turkey has the second biggest army in Nato after the US. It was a crucial ally during the cold war, although relations hit a bump in March 2003 when Turkey refused to let the US to invade Iraq from the north through Turkish territory.
Now they are military partners, albeit with significant political differences, in the fight against Islamic State. Last year Turkey agreed to let US warplanes and armed drones use the Incirlik air base, just 60 miles from the northwest Syrian border, to carry out raids against Isis. The aircraft had previously flown from Iraq or Arab allies such as Jordan.
Loss of the Turkish base would be a severe blow to the ongoing effort against Isis, especially after recent terrorist attacks within Belgium, France, Turkey and the US itself.
Turkey, which by the end of 2015 was hosting 2.5 million refugees, mostly from neighbouring Syria, has objected to US support for Kurdish forces operating in northern Syria against Isis. Washington has said it draws a clear distinction between the PKK, a foreign terrorist organisation, and the Syrian Kurds, whom it sees as one of many groups fighting Isis.
Mark Toner, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said last month: “Turkey is playing an important role with regard to Syria, with regard to the conflict there, both from the Assad regime as well as with Daesh . So I don’t want to underplay that. But they have, as many countries do within the coalition, sometimes different priorities, different ideas about how to go about that, and that’s something we’re in constant dialogue with them about and working to coordinate better.”
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The Turkish state broadcaster TRT has now gone off air, say the Reuters news agency and sources in Turkey.
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From [I]Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-primeminister-idUSKCN0ZV2HK:
If [this coup is] successful, the overthrow of President Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would be one of the biggest shifts in power in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies in the region.
________
Airports were shut, access to Internet social media sites was cut off, and troops sealed off the two bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, one of which was still lit up red, white and blue in solidarity with victims of the Bastille Day truck attack in France a day earlier.
________
TRT state television announced a countrywide curfew. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.
________
The country has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.
- - - -
From The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying-jets-and-gunfire-heard-in-ankara1/:
State TV channel says the country is now under the control of a "peace council" that will ensure the safety of the population.
It states that democratic and secular rule of law has been eroded by the Erdogan government.
- - - -
From the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/europe/military-attempts-coup-in-turkey-prime-minister-says.html?_r=0:
ISTANBUL — The prime minister of Turkey said on Friday night that factions of the military had attempted a coup. There were sharply conflicting statements about who was in control of the country, a NATO member, which has been convulsed by military takeovers at least three times over the past half-century.
“Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in comments broadcast on NTV, a private television channel. “The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.”
“Turkish armed forces seized the rule of the country completely with the aim of reinstalling the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to make rule of law pervade again, to re-establish the ruined public order,” the statement quoted by DHA said. “All the international agreements and promises are valid. We hope our good relations with all global countries goes on.”
The state-run Anadolu News Agency said hostages had been taken at military headquarters in Ankara, the capital, including the chief of staff.
Military forces shut two bridges over the Bosporus in Istanbul, and fighter jets were seen flying over Istanbul and Ankara, the capital. The main airport in Istanbul was reported to have halted flights.
The whereabouts of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Islamist politician who has dominated politics in Turkey for many years and sought to establish a firm control over the military, was not immediately clear. He was not in the capital but there were conflicting accounts about whether he was in the country.
Ilnur Cevik, an aide to Mr. Erdogan, was reached by telephone Friday night and said he would not discuss where the president is because, “these lines are being listened to.”
Mr. Cevik said he heard reports that clashes were underway in Ankara near headquarters of Turkey’s intelligence agency. “We’re not really sure what’s going on but there seems to be an uprising in the military.”
Since the founding of modern Turkey in 1923 the military has staged coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980 – and intervened in 1997.
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Here's a link on the same event from Aljazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/turkey-military-blocks-bridges-istanbul-160715195444742.html, for sake of an extra angle.
- - - -
Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt
________________________
[Will update this as time goes by.]
________________________
From The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara:
Action taken to ‘reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms’, say armed forces
• Turkish PM Binali Yıldırım says security forces are tackling situation
• Military aircraft seen flying over capital and gunfire reported
________
[US relevance:]
John Kerry, the secretary of state, said he had heard the reports but could not comment. “I hope there will be stability and peace and continuity within Turkey,” he said while visiting Moscow.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, said: “The president’s national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey. The president will continue to receive regular updates.”
Turkey has the second biggest army in Nato after the US. It was a crucial ally during the cold war, although relations hit a bump in March 2003 when Turkey refused to let the US to invade Iraq from the north through Turkish territory.
Now they are military partners, albeit with significant political differences, in the fight against Islamic State. Last year Turkey agreed to let US warplanes and armed drones use the Incirlik air base, just 60 miles from the northwest Syrian border, to carry out raids against Isis. The aircraft had previously flown from Iraq or Arab allies such as Jordan.
Loss of the Turkish base would be a severe blow to the ongoing effort against Isis, especially after recent terrorist attacks within Belgium, France, Turkey and the US itself.
Turkey, which by the end of 2015 was hosting 2.5 million refugees, mostly from neighbouring Syria, has objected to US support for Kurdish forces operating in northern Syria against Isis. Washington has said it draws a clear distinction between the PKK, a foreign terrorist organisation, and the Syrian Kurds, whom it sees as one of many groups fighting Isis.
Mark Toner, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said last month: “Turkey is playing an important role with regard to Syria, with regard to the conflict there, both from the Assad regime as well as with Daesh . So I don’t want to underplay that. But they have, as many countries do within the coalition, sometimes different priorities, different ideas about how to go about that, and that’s something we’re in constant dialogue with them about and working to coordinate better.”
________
The Turkish state broadcaster TRT has now gone off air, say the Reuters news agency and sources in Turkey.
- - - -
From [I]Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-primeminister-idUSKCN0ZV2HK:
If [this coup is] successful, the overthrow of President Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would be one of the biggest shifts in power in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important U.S. allies in the region.
________
Airports were shut, access to Internet social media sites was cut off, and troops sealed off the two bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul, one of which was still lit up red, white and blue in solidarity with victims of the Bastille Day truck attack in France a day earlier.
________
TRT state television announced a countrywide curfew. An announcer read a statement on the orders of the military that accused the government of eroding the democratic and secular rule of law. The country would be run by a "peace council" that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said.
________
The country has been at war with Kurdish separatists, and has suffered numerous bombing and shooting attacks this year, including an attack two weeks ago by Islamists at Istanbul's main airport that killed more than 40 people.
- - - -
From The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/turkey-low-flying-jets-and-gunfire-heard-in-ankara1/:
State TV channel says the country is now under the control of a "peace council" that will ensure the safety of the population.
It states that democratic and secular rule of law has been eroded by the Erdogan government.
- - - -
From the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/europe/military-attempts-coup-in-turkey-prime-minister-says.html?_r=0:
ISTANBUL — The prime minister of Turkey said on Friday night that factions of the military had attempted a coup. There were sharply conflicting statements about who was in control of the country, a NATO member, which has been convulsed by military takeovers at least three times over the past half-century.
“Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said in comments broadcast on NTV, a private television channel. “The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.”
“Turkish armed forces seized the rule of the country completely with the aim of reinstalling the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to make rule of law pervade again, to re-establish the ruined public order,” the statement quoted by DHA said. “All the international agreements and promises are valid. We hope our good relations with all global countries goes on.”
The state-run Anadolu News Agency said hostages had been taken at military headquarters in Ankara, the capital, including the chief of staff.
Military forces shut two bridges over the Bosporus in Istanbul, and fighter jets were seen flying over Istanbul and Ankara, the capital. The main airport in Istanbul was reported to have halted flights.
The whereabouts of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Islamist politician who has dominated politics in Turkey for many years and sought to establish a firm control over the military, was not immediately clear. He was not in the capital but there were conflicting accounts about whether he was in the country.
Ilnur Cevik, an aide to Mr. Erdogan, was reached by telephone Friday night and said he would not discuss where the president is because, “these lines are being listened to.”
Mr. Cevik said he heard reports that clashes were underway in Ankara near headquarters of Turkey’s intelligence agency. “We’re not really sure what’s going on but there seems to be an uprising in the military.”
Since the founding of modern Turkey in 1923 the military has staged coups in 1960, 1971 and 1980 – and intervened in 1997.
- - - -
Here's a link on the same event from Aljazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/turkey-military-blocks-bridges-istanbul-160715195444742.html, for sake of an extra angle.
- - - -
Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt
________________________
[Will update this as time goes by.]