Turkish authorities on Saturday said forces and civilians loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quashed a coup attempt by discontented soldiers in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that took more than 265 lives, including 104 rebel soldiers. Erdogan vowed that those responsible “will pay a heavy price for their treason.” General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, have been detained, while at least 2,839 rebel soldiers have been arrested by Saturday.
After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year autocratic rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible “flare-up” of Friday’s chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people. The chaos came amid a period of political turmoil in Turkey that critics blame on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule. Staying in power by switching from being Prime Minister to President, Erdogan has shaken up the Government, cracked down on dissidents, restricted the news media and renewed fighting with Kurdish rebels.
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. General Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.
The authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogan’s arch enemy, the US-based moderate cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan has often accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the Government. Gulen lives in exile in Pennsylvania and promotes a philosophy that blends a mystical form of Islam with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue. Gulen, however, said he condemned “in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey” and sharply rejected any responsibility for the attempted coup. “Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force…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,” he added.
Turks woke up early on Saturday to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the apparent failure of the coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets. “The situation is completely under control,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey’s top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.
During a night where power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied orders of a curfew and marching out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime. In images broadcast on CNN-Turk, dozens of soldiers walked among tanks with their hands held up, surrendering to Government forces. Discarded gear was strewn on the ground. Some flag-waving people climbed onto the tanks.
And Erdogan used his Twitter feed to urge people onto the streets to ensure no further challenges to his power. “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,” he said.
As the dust settled on a dramatic and chaotic night, TV pictures today showed extensive damage to the parliament building in Ankara that was bombed by rebel jets. Yesterday’s putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.
Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd. As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.
Soldiers also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, injuring several. There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with 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.”
Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara. Regular explosions could be heard from the AFP office situated near the complex.
Erdogan, who flew back from the holiday resort of Marmaris to a triumphant welcome from supporters at Ataturk Airport, denounced the coup attempt as “treachery”. “They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason,” Erdogan said. “We will not leave our country to occupiers.”
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.
Turkey detained a member of the country’s top court, local media reported. Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into custody, the private NTV television reported, without specifying what he was accused of. Earlier, the judicial authorities said that some 2,745 judges across the country would be dismissed in the wake of the coup.