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Saturday, 16 July 2016

Turkey coup attempt: Erdoğan demands US arrest exiled cleric Gülen amid crackdown on army

The attempted coup

On Friday night a faction of the Turkish military tried and failed to stage a coup to overthrow Erdoğan, and tanks, helicopters and soldiers clashed with police and protesters in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.
Erdoğan delivered an iPhone address to the nation, calling on people to resist the coup and defend their democracy. Thousands turned out, and the president landed in Istanbul, where he denounced the “treason” by the rebellious faction.
Parliament was struck by at least one bomb, and graphic videos and photos social media showed clashes, surrenders and chaos.Helicopters fired at people on the ground, mobs grappled with soldiers, and tanks barreled through crowds or were overrun by protesters. On Saturday the defense minister said the control was fully in control of the government.
At least 265 people were killed in the violence and at least 1,440 wounded. Prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that 161 “martyrs” were killed, including civilians and police. The general acting as chief of staff, Umit Dundar, said earlier in the day that 104 “coup plotters” were killed in the fighting.
Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and other world leaders condemned the coup. “All parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed,” the US president said.

The aftermath

Authorities arrested 2,839 army members and ordered 2,745 judges and prosecutors detained, as officials began to purge the ranks of accused conspirators.
Erdoğan demanded that Obama arrest or deport an exiled cleric, Fethullah Gülen, from his home in Pennsylvania. Secretary of state John Kerry said the US would consider extradition but required evidence of the imam’s wrongdoing.
Gülen rejected the conspiracy accusations in a rare interview with the Guardian and other reporters, and suggested that Erdoğan could have staged the coup. He also condemned the coup attempt, saying, “now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back.”
Turkey shut down US military flights from a base near the southern border, which the foreign minister said was because conspirators had been stationed there. He promised that air strikes from the base would resume after anti-coup operations, but the halt has disrupted the campaign against jihadi militants in Syria.
Yildirim said that Turkey would consider reinstating the death penalty to punish coup-plotters and the “black stain” they had left on the nation’s democracy.
Turkey’s four major parties denounced the attempted coup, including those that have vehemently opposed Erdoğan’s AKP. But fears remained that the pro-democracy protests may have emboldened Erdoğan’s increasing authoritarianism.
Anti-coup demonstrations returned to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, where police restored order and a celebratory mood reigned. Injured people still waited for medical care at Ankara’s biggest hospital, and people recounted scenes of horror and death from clashes with tanks and soldiers the night before.
Two Turkish majors, a captain and five privates requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter. Greece’s defense ministry acknowledged a landing near Alexandroupolis, and said the passengers were arrested for illegal entry.

Defense minister: government has total control

Defense minister Fikri Isik has said forces loyal to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have regained full control of all areas in Turkey, but warned that authorities will stay on high alert for any continued threat.

AP reports:

The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military. General Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.

But Turkish authorities have detained General Adem Huduti, commander of the Second Army, and Alparslan Altan, one of the judges on Turkey’s highest court. There are also unconfirmed reports that General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army Corps, was detained, according to an unnamed official cited by Reuters.

1h ago21:09

What is the Gülenist movement, and why does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan consider it an existential threat?

My colleagues in London explain, and Amana Fontanella-Khan reports from Fethullah Gülen’s compound in central Pennsylvania.

Turkish coup attempt: what is the Gülenist movement?

Updated at 9.11pm BST

1h ago20:57

Peaceful demonstrations are continuing around Turkey – with remnants of the attempted coup still standing scattered on the streets and the question hovering of how far will Erdoğan go in his retaliation.

‘Petrified’ British students caught in Turkey chaos as beaches lie empty after bloody coup

A GROUP of British schoolchildren threw themselves to the ground when they were caught in the Turkish coup chaos at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.

The students, from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, were told to “get down” when someone shouted “gun” on Friday night, a parent claimed.

Children from Arthur Terry School board a bus as they left school to go to Turkey

Parent Lisa Ledbury, 43, said the students from Arthur Terry School were “petrified” and had seen tanks on the runway and heard explosions.

Writing on Facebook, she said: “The longest night of our lives. All the Arthur Terry South Africa trip kids arrived at Ataturk airport just before the news reported a military coup. All flights were grounded.

“They have seen tanks on the runway, fighter jets flying over and heard the explosion that was reported as a bomb.

“At one point all chaos ensued when someone shouted ‘gun’ and everyone started to run with people shouting ‘get down, get down’.

“They are so scared and getting absolutely no information whatsoever from Turkish Airlines. The British embassy cannot even get hold of anyone from the airline.

The students were told to "get down" when someone shouted "gun!" at the airport — The students were told to “get down” when someone shouted “gun!” at the airport

They are now stuck in Istanbul's Ataturk Airport awaiting a connecting flight to South Africa — They are now stuck in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport awaiting a connecting flight to South Africa

“The airline staff have vanished, they have not had food or drinks and are petrified. Turkish airlines are not answering their phones, messages or tweets.

“PLEASE COPY AND PASTE TO YOUR STATUS in the hope that they can get help and we can get our kids out of this Godforsaken place.”

It comes as holidaymakers described gunfire and explosions rattling their hotels as the Turkish military last night tried to overthrow its government.

Others say normally busy resorts are now empty as hundreds await an opportunity to leave after disruptions to airports and international flights.

Tourists leave a Turkish airport carrying their luggage after it was overrun by the military

Passengers leave the Ataturk Airport as Turkish army tanks enter

A beach in Hisaronu, western Turkey, lies empty with Brits warned to stay indoors

This beach was filled with tourists yesterday - but today it lies almost deserted — This beach was filled with tourists yesterday – but today few people were willing to swim

Jonny Hogg, a former British journalist, tweeted he could hear loud explosions shaking his apartment in Ankara.

He later said he could hear “sporadic” gunfire, but by the morning things had quietened down.

“Large explosion close to us here,” he tweeted. “Windows shook. Constant overflights from jets now, in northern #Ankara, and explosions still audible in distance.”

Fethullah Gülen: who is the man Turkey's president blames for coup attempt?

Cleric who leads global Hizmet movement from exile in Pennyslvania, US, is a critic of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and remains influential in Turkish affairs.

Fethullah Gülen in a 2014 photograph taken at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.
Photograph: Selahattin Sevi/AP

The accusation by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, that US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen is behind Friday night’s attempted coup is part of a familiar rhetoric and a long-running rivalry. So is there any truth in it?

It is probably worth pointing out in the first instance that the traditional rivalry in Turkish society has been between secularists (including those in the army) who look to the modern state’s founder, Kemal Atatürk, and Islamists – not least Erdogan’s AKP party.

The AKP has itself provoked a number of coups or attempts in Turkish history. And in many respects, Friday night looked to be another event in that tradition: a military coup driven from within Turkey’s armed forces. By Saturday morning Erdoğan had reasserted power and it was announced dozens of senior colonels and generals had been removed.

The military has long seen itself as the guardian of modern Turkey, and the movement lead by Gülen occupies a sort of murky gap between the two sides, secularist and Islamist.

Gülen, a cleric living in reclusive exile in Pennsylvania, leads a popular movement called Hizmet. It is a hodge-podge that at times has appeared cultish – spawning thinktanks, businesses, schools and publications across the globe, while building up substantial wealth and influence in the process.

According to some reports, 10% of the Turkish population is estimated to support Hizmet.

The centre of growing tension in recent years between the Gülenists, Erdoğan and the AKP has been Erdoğan’s blaming of Gülenists in the police and judiciary for anti-corruption allegations in 2013 that targeted senior supporters of the president, including his son Bilal.

The allegations were seen as retaliation for Erdoğan’s moves against Gülenist schools as the president attempted to limit the growth of the movement (an effort that had also seen Erdoğan invite Gülen to return from exile to Turkey).

The rivalry culminated in a purge of perceived Gülenists including senior army and police officers, as well as those in the media accused of Gülenist links.

As the coup attempt unfolded on Friday night, a lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said there were “indications of direct involvement” of the Gülenists, adding that he and his firm had “attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed” by Gülen and his movement. Amsterdam cited Turkish intelligence sources in claiming that “there are signs that Gülen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government”.

The Alliance for Shared Values, the US arm of Gülen’s Hizmet movement, was quick to deny any involvement in the coup, calling such claims “highly irresponsible” and insisting that the group did not support the military intervention.

“Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them,” the group said in a statement. “We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now.

“We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.”“For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gülen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy.

So what is the truth? Critics point to a video that emerged in 1999 in which Gülen seemed to suggest that his followers should infiltrate mainstream institutions.

“You must move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centres … You must wait until such time as you have got all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institution in Turkey.”

Gülen claimed, though, that the recording had been altered.

Speaking to France 24 in the midst of the 2013 tensions between Erdoğan and Gülen, Dorothée Schmid, a Turkey analyst at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), summed up the contradictions in the feud.

“Turkish democracy is in danger if we’re counting on a movement without any transparency or political legitimacy, when it comes to contesting the authoritarian tendencies of the power in place,” said Schmid.

On Friday night – thousands of miles away from the upheaval in Turkey – all was quiet outside the gated complex in sleepy Saylorsburg, the small Pennsylvania town where Fethullah Gülen resides in his sprawling Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center.

Security guards refused access to the complex and said Gülen was not available – telling reporters to return in the morning.

See photos of Torture of soldiers involved in the thwarted coup

A group of anti-government rebels have commandeered a warship and taken Turkey's head of navy hostage at country's Golcuk naval base as the government struggles to maintain control

TURKISH citizens are preparing for another night of violence as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warns the country to prepare to crush another coup just hours after a failed rebellion left 265 people dead.

Authorities have now ordered the arrest of 2745 judges and prosecutors in connection to the attempted military coup.

Putting the boot in...soldiers involved in the coup have been attacked by angry mobs loyal Erdogans government — Putting the boot in…soldiers involved in the coup have been attacked by angry mobs loyal Erdogans government

Authotities have stribbed captured soldiers of their uniforms and are holding them iin a courthouse in Istanbul — Authorities have stripped captured soldiers of their uniforms and are holding them in a courthouse in Istanbul

Fists of fury...A civilian beats a soldier who was captured after Fridays failed coup attempt — Fists of fury…A civilian beats a soldier who was captured after Fridays failed coup attempt

In a speech to gathered crowds in Istanbul Saturday evening Erdoğan said that his government was in charge again, saying they were “back at work”.

“You went out in to the squares, that’s what ruined their plot. And for the next week we need to continue this solidarity, we must keep up these meetings.”

A group of anti-government rebels have reportedly commandeered a warship and taken the head of the Turkish navy hostage at the country’s Golcuk naval base as the government struggles to maintain control of rebels leading an uprising.

The rebellion comes as the government admitted “many” military commanders have been taken hostage at the country’s army HQ and eight men landed a Turkish military helicopter in Greece and asked for asylum.

Mob's revenge...An unidentified man uses his belt to hit Turkish soldiers involved in the coup — Mob’s revenge…An unidentified man uses his belt to hit Turkish soldiers involved in the coup

Surrendered Turkish soldiers who were involved in the coup are beaten by a supported of Erdogan

Turkey — People have gathered to celbrate the end of the coup..but the president has warned them to be prepared for more violence

Turkey coup — Rebels have captured a warship and taken the head of the navy hostage as the coup continues

Turkish rebels are thought to be holding Admiral Bülent Bostanoğlu, one of several senior military figures allegedly caught in the ongoing coup attempt, Russia Today reports.

Chaos erupted across the country last night as a bloody military coup in the streets of Ankara and Istanbul saw more than 160 killed and 1,400 injured - and President Erdogan has warned more bloodshed could be on the horizon tonight.

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