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Turkish Government Cracks Down In The Wake Of Failed Coup Attempt

Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul’s Taksim square, early Saturday. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/EMRAH GUREL
Turkish soldiers secure the area as supporters of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan protest in Istanbul’s Taksim square, early Saturday. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/EMRAH GUREL

After a deadly night of unrest, Turkey’s government defeated a coup attempt by a faction of its military as it imposed martial law and a curfew on Saturday.

At least 265 people died in the clashes and at least another 1,440 were injured, according to published reports. Nearly 3,000 military personnel have been detained while the Interior Ministry suspended some five generals and 29 colonels.

“Arrests are still being made,” said Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, according to CNN. “Our noble assembly will get together and discuss the measures that can be taken [so that] Turkey will not have this sort of madness again in the future. Whichever legal measures need to be taken we will discuss [them] with other party leaders.” Turkey does not have capital punishment but the ongoing debate to reinstate the death penalty has intensified after the attempted coup.

As the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cements its control, it seems to be moving to crack down not just on the military, but on the country’s courts, pointing to yet another blow to its judiciary system. Erdogan’s government has long been criticized for reshuffling the judiciary to affirm control. Shortly after Friday’s attempted coup, nearly 3,000 judges were suspended, and the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, which oversees judicial appointments and disciplinary measures, terminated the membership of five of its members.

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President Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 11 years, has blamed Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the unrest. Gulen, who lives in the U.S., has denied any involvement and it remains unclear who was behind the coup. “The betrayal you have done to this nation [is enough],” Erdogan said while referring to Gulen. Erdogan is now requesting the U.S. to hand over Gulen, a Pennsylvania resident under a self-imposed exile, but no formal extradition request has been submitted said Secretary of State John Kerry.

In a statement Gulen condemned the coup. “Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” he said. “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.”

The failed coup started Friday afternoon and the country plummeted into a night of violence. The military faction took over television stations, grounded flights, and declared it had seized “the rule of the country completely with the aim of reinstalling the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms.”

Erdogan countered from a secret location and proceeded to broadcast FaceTime messages from an iPhone urging the public to resist the coup. “There is no power higher than the power of the people,” Erdogan said. The military moved to stop traffic, and close bridges, while multiple political factions — even those that oppose Erdogan — condemned the coup, the New York Times reported. Erdogan supporters responded to the president’s pleas with massive protests while reports of shots and clashes were ongoing.

By Saturday morning, reports surfaced that soldiers supporting the coup were surrendering to the military. Some soldiers have fled to nearby Greece.

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At Least 41 Killed After Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport Hit With Bomb BlastWorld by CREDIT: AP Photo/Emrah Gurel Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, which is one of the world’s busiest transit hubs, was…thinkprogress.orgTurkey has gone through four military coups in the last five decades. The last coup happened in 1997, when the military gave out a series of “recommendations” after the rise of the Welfare Party, an Islamic political party. Then Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, agreed to a compulsory eight-year education program that prevented students from enrolling in religious schools, a headscarf ban at universities, and other measures. Erbakan was then forced to resign.

Since then the country has suffered much turmoil in the form of mass protests and terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the Erdogan government has been accused of trampling freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, excessive use of force, torture and impunity. Amnesty International has recently said human rights violations have intensified following parliamentary elections in June .

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Update:

Citing security concerns, Turkey has shut airspace around Incirlik Air Base, halting American-led strike missions against the Islamic State in war-torn Syria and Iraq. U.S. officials are seeking explanations, the New York Times reported.

The move is unlikely to mean a shift in Turkey’s policy on the self-proclaimed Islamic State, a group that has conducted various deadly attacks on Turkey in the past several months. Just in late June dozens of people died and hundreds were injured after three suicide bombers attacked Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, one of the world’s busiest transit hubs.

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Reports are also surfacing on social media of brutal attacks on the military faction that surrendered Saturday. According to the Independent, photos show the alleged beheading of a soldier and protesters beating surrendered soldiers.