Coup in Turkey flies the coop

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
34
6

Unknown

Turkish Politicians detained – Military has issued statement they have taken over Government – US will need to remove forces immediately as they can’t operate on territory that has had a Coup.

Tanks are on the streets. Jets are flying low. Airports have been closed.

 

UPDATE: Coup ha been put down, hundreds killed and thousands arrested.

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What role the US had in this is an open question, but how this serves to further corrode Europe’s disintegration is the biggest question.

34 COMMENTS

  4. Which way are the military jumping? Into the US/Israel bed, or away? Turkey has been slutting around too long, this was always going to happen.

  5. “Turkish Politicians detained – Military has issued statement they have taken over Government – US will need to remove forces immediately as they can’t operate on territory that has had a Coup.

    Tanks are on the streets. Jets are flying low. Airports have been closed.”

    Yes, some early morning excitement, for sure, just proving how volatile the situation in Turkey is now, the government and its armed forces and security forces were already fighting a virtual civil war in the east and south east of the country, against Kurdish rebels and activists, yes the Kurds as such, it seemed.

    Erdogan has not been much of a democrat, so here we go again, he is now sensing that his head is on the block, so he does use all steps and propaganda he still has to his avail, to appeal to his supporters to go out onto the streets and “defend democracy”. What a joke, a sick joke that is.

    I was also appalled about French president Hollande reacting to that terror attack by a lone wolf, mental health suffering, attacker in a truck, killing at least 84 people, including kids.

    Hollande talked about their national day of remembrance, that is of Bastille Day, and like others held high the flare for “freedom” and “democracy” and all “good French values” like humanity.

    I wonder how the once colonised and exploited, and still exploited former colonial countries’ residents feel about all that fanfare and high talk?

    This coup in Turkey does not seem to go well, that is if we rely on the propaganda coming from Turkish government media and other sources, and if Erdogan can fly into Istanbul and address hundreds or thousands of his supporters there, it seems the situation is so far very unclear and unresolved. On one hand some military has taken over media studios and offices, and controls streets and bridges, and on the other Erdogan can still fly around in an airplane.

    The ones leading and participating in the coup will know one thing, they will either be shot, locked up for the rest of their lives or at the least will lose their jobs, having gone to take this action, that is if they do not succeed with the coup. So they will be forced to fight to the end, as there is no alternative for them.

    Whatever the outcome, it will make Turkey even less stable, and it will certainly not become part of an already fragile EU, as nobody in the EU wants such an unstable member country with endless issues.

    As for the US, do not underestimate them, they will probably even at least indirectly pull some strings behind the scenes, as they have forces there, who knows, they may even get involved, since a Nato country is affected from high level insecurity now.

    The next few hours will tell us where it will go, I see BBC, RT and Al Jazeera plus many other channels are broadcasting live, and following what goes on, the media will also play a big role in this.

    The IS in Syria will be jubilating, as a less stable Turkey and Europe is what they want. No reason to be cheerful for us.

    We are at risk of being dragged into other crisis soon, with Mainland China ignoring a UN Tribunal decision on disputed marine and sovereignty rights within the South China Sea. Sooner or later we will be forced to show our loyalties, to Beijing or Washington, there will be no doubt about it, as Australia will be clear on its direction, and would not like to see a little fence sitter next door.

    • Actually, Sultan Erdogon the Stronk tried to flee to Germany but Germany went “LOLnope!” to his request to land there. He apparently turned around and went to Istanbul.

      Coups forces currently control Ankara. The bulk of the military is on the baorder with Syria.

      The police aren’t taking Sutan Stronksstronks calls because riot police with water cannons would have put down any gathering by civilians by now.

      No one has heard from General Salih Zeki Çolak Commander of the first army stationed in Instanbul because the Army is in full communications lock down while Sultan Stronk can’t shut up.

      Both sides have F16’s which are still running sorties against each other.

      The only way I see this ending is either Sahlih or Erdogon meats the hang mans noose.

      Moral of the story is everything coming out of Turky is lies. The only thing that matters is relative positions of power ie coup supporters will have big guns and Erdogon supporters still have big guns.

  7. “US will need to remove forces immediately as they can’t operate on territory that has had a Coup.”

    Do you really believe this? The US continued & in fact increased their military presence in Honduras after their coup..simply by pretending it wasn’t a coup..it reminds me of a remark by Harold Pinter on a different topic but the same idea .” It didn’t happen..and even while it was happening , it didn’t happen”..

  8. This is an interesting comment on the situation from the Kurdish Female Fighters YPJ Facebook page. They would know a thing or two about what is going on.

    “Would like to let everyone know. 

    There’s nothing clear in the situation about weather it’s coup or not. 

    This can be one of the old style, typical Ottoman’s game to oppress minorities or it can be an internal power sharing conflict between Pro Erdogan’s regime (president of Turkey) and Turkish cleric, Fetullah Gülen or Kemalists, (Mustafa Kemal Ataturk) who’s known as Ataturk by Turks. 

    On 5 July a Turkish military chopper that had military commanders and their families inside, mysteriously crushed and 7 Turkish military personals, including their family members killed in this chopper crush, but Turkish media didn’t cover this so much. This seems to be an internal power sharing conflict between, current Turkish regime, Turkish cleric, Fetullah Gülen and Kemalists. These three names have both military and police personal loyalists, but in general, police personals are with the Turkish Erdogan’s regime and military is mixed. Military can have Kemalists majority. 

    There’s not much difference between Erdogan and Gülen, the Turkish cleric. Erdogan used to be the student of Gülen and they were working together against Kurdish people until 6-7 years ago. But then everything changed after these two internally fought each other over the power sharing and Erdogan imprisoned all Gülen’s loyalists within Turkish military, police and other Turkish official institutions. Erdogan betrayed his teacher and purged military, police and law enforcement from his teacher’s, Gülen’s loyalists. 

    All of these mentioned names are against Kurdish people. The situation for Kurdish people in northern part of Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) won’t be any better if not worse. “

    • Like Hitler and Goebbels, “firstly create a political situation and capitalise on producing remedies for it.”

      This is as true as it get’s as the Turks were always “masters of deception” used as a tool of war here!!!!

      Look for Nactional also, to adopt this now – for the upcoming election!!!!

      That is why we need Winston who will spot it a mile away!

      He will go to pains to let everyone know, that the NatZ are using the same tactics here now.

      Because it seems they already now have done on many occasions now.

  9. So much for a coup attempt, just another brief item in the ever so busy, ticking news cycle. Over to the next event, I suppose.

    TV One reported it was an attempt by a “military fringe group”. Gosh, if that was so, why would they all risk their necks for such an effort?

    It went badly wrong for the coup leaders and their followers, because Erdogan was smarter, used the bit of media he still had access to, first via Skype or so, and then appealed to his supporters, well all Turks some may say, to go out on the streets.

    That was it, the coup leaders and plotters had not planned for that, they were ill prepared, so it fell to pieces more quickly than the time and effort they must have spent preparing for all this.

    The president and his AKP party, and his followers will now “purge” the military, the administration, the courts, and will enjoy powers like an authoritarian leader. He already has put most media in line, and shut those down that criticise him too much.

    The west swiftly lined up to support Erdogan, a difficult leader for some, because they do more so fear what may come after him, than what they know already. A destabilised Turkey would be the last think the west needs, hence no criticism tonight, re whatever happened over recent years, re what happens now, and re what will happen over coming days, weeks and months.

    RIP freedom and democracy, the military, the ones that were plotting, they would probably be no worse than the present government there is in the state of Turkey.

  10. ‘Rift over US-based alleged coup leader, ‘muted’ response threaten to sour NATO-Turkey relations’

    https://www.rt.com/news/351665-turkey-nato-relations-post-coup/

    “Washington has dismissed claims of US complicity in the Turkish coup attempt as “utterly false and harmful” after Ankara declared any state standing by US-based cleric Gulen an enemy, further straining relations between the West and the key NATO ally…

    • This is simply Erdogan using propaganda and slogans, to justify his massive purge now, the purge of the armed forces, the judges, the teachers, the administrators, to get rid of any persons that have made his life a bit hard.

      The US would not at all consider supporting Gulan to organise a coup of sorts, or allow it, they will also eavesdrop on that man. They have NO interest in further destabilising Turkey, and they will put up with heaps more that president Erdogan may get up to now, as they rather have him stay in power and keep “control” of the people, than have some unpopular military government make life difficult for them.

      This is just a temporary hiccup, I bet, Turkey is key and crucial member of NATO, has the second largest armed forces in Nato and is the essential buffer between crisis herd Syria and Iraq, and Europe and other places further north.

      Hence we have NO criticism of Erdogan coming from the vast bulk of western media, nor from any government offices, they know, the new Sultan is useful for them, no one will dare rock that boat.

      • Well Erdogan only defeated the coup by appealing to the masses to come out on the streets and support him and their democracy…so what do you say to that?

        ….Maybe Turks don’t want their democracy undermined as in Syria by the USA and allies or in Libya by by USA and allies or in Iraq by USA and allies ?…

        USA and allies are now trying to undermine Russia via NATO…Erdogan has recently tried detente with Russia ….this will NOT please them!

        ‘Astonishing NATO nations did not come to aid of Erdogan govt’

        https://www.rt.com/op-edge/351644-nato-nations-aid-erdogan/

        …”It’s interesting that the Prime Minister so quickly blamed the Gulen movement. Now, who is this movement? The cleric lives in the US. Well, that is the movement that reportedly funds the Hillary Clinton campaign. Certainly there will be people in Ankara not wishing for a Clinton presidency anytime soon given that so many supporters right now are being arrested. There are ties here that show how complex the events of the past 12 hours are….

        ‘Turkey coup attempt: Erdoğan demands US arrest exiled cleric Gülen amid crackdown on army – as it happened’

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-gunfire-ankara

        (Recently Turkey had been trying to resume friendly relations with Russia

        ‘Putin Ends Russian Tourism Ban to Turkey After Erdogan Talks’

        http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-29/putin-lifts-ban-on-russian-tourism-to-turkey-after-erdogan-talks

        ‘Erdoğan has apologised for downing of Russian jet, Kremlin says’

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/27/kremlin-says-erdogan-apologises-russian-jet-turkish

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/28/erdogan-russia-turkey-foreign-policy )

        • That is a view one may get by relying overly on Russian propaganda. ANY superpower must be treated with suspicion, and the Russian government is hardly known to play fair with those having other views.

          http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31669061

          https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/alexandr-litoy/guide-to-political-persecution-in-russia

          https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/29/russia-anti-lgbt-law-tool-discrimination

          Same as the US, so do the Russians and Chinese have their agendas, and what Putin does is hardly stuff to get romantic about, he just does at times seem to be a bit more professional and better at playing dirty.

          Erdogan needed to repair relations with Russia, as both nations have too much trade and other relations that simply could not be exposed to greater risks. Both countries have economic challenges, and despite all odds some common interests in the region.

          So I would not get too excited about the olive branch sent to Moscow by the Turkish government, Turkey remains a staunch Nato ally, and the present ripples will not be stuff that they will want to maintain for too long, that is the US and Turkey.

          Lest we forget also the genocide of the Armenians:
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

          Also have there been years of dispute between Turkey and Syria and Iraq about water allocation, as some major rivers flow across the borders, Turkey is playing its cards as a regional power, pursuing self interests.

        • From the article in the Guardian, under the last link in your comment, I read this:
          “Ibrahim Kalin, Erdoğan’s hardline spokesman, denied on Tuesday that Turkey was embarking on a foreign policy reset. Differences with Russia over Ukraine and Syria remained, Kalin said. The simultaneous rapprochement with Israel was merely coincidental, he claimed.

          Putin’s spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, also cautioned that ties between the two countries would not suddenly return to normal. “One shouldn’t think that everything will be mended overnight. We will keep up our work in that direction,” he said.

          Turkey’s reliability as a military ally, and its continued status as a moderate, secular, democratic Middle Eastern power matter a lot to Europe and the US in strategic and security terms.”

          So mending relations does not mean more than that, it does not mean Turkey will perhaps leave Nato and align itself with a traditional competitor and at times decided enemy, further north.

  11. ‘ ‘US needs Erdogan as ally to put pressure on Russia,’ but will never hand over Gulen’

    https://www.rt.com/op-edge/351708-gulen-turkey-erdogan-coup/

    …”Gulen has been living in the US in the state of Pennsylvania for many years. He is the leader of the Hizmet movement, which unites Turks who support Gulen’s ideas on Islam and democracy. American intelligence services have allegedly been keeping a close eye on him.

    Daniel Patrick Welch, a writer and political analyst, argues that the cleric could also be “a patsy for US intelligence services, or working with them.”

    According to Welch, there have been other reports from anti-Erdogan groups within Turkey claiming that the coup attempt was a Saudi and Gulen backed scheme “to push back against Erdogan for his recent rapprochement with Russia and proposals to normalize relations with Syria.”

    Dargin said that Gulen has been in the US since the late 1990s and has set up many schools and charities there.

    “As a matter of fact, in the South he has one of the largest charter schools. His schools have been investigated in terms of visa frauds and perhaps other allegations,” he told RT…

    • This discussion took place before the attempted coup!

      ‘Turkey reset’

      https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/349616-turkey-russia-relations-reset/

      “Turkey’s decision to offer Russia a reset in relations could have serious repercussions. Both countries now speak about the need to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and share military intelligence. The conflict in Syria just got more complicated.

      CrossTalking with Onur Isci, Mustafa Gurbuz, and Joe Lauria.”

      • Do you seriously believe that such conspiracy theories are real, and that the US would seriously risk a coup not going well, or leading to new tensions or even a civil war of sorts, while they need Turkey as ally more than ever before?

        They have one or two major air bases in Turkey, and rely on that to bomb ISIS and interfere in Syria, for good or for bad.

        Any coup attempt bears risks, and since it did not succeed, it has ended badly, only strengthening Erdogan and his government, now purging army, administration and so forth, from people who were always somewhat critical.

        I think you are giving all these RT and some other reports a bit too much credit. While global relations are complex and intertwined, and much goes no behind the scenes, I think on this one it is nonsense to believe the US were behind this, risking their relations with Turkey, as a core member of NATO.

        • People will make up their own minds as to where the propaganda is coming from

          …incidentally RT has many fine American journalists who seek discussion from Western academics, Middle Eastern specialists, policy analysts, intelligence analysts and political commentators and organisers from Left and Right

          …also of interest is that RT is currently suffering a massive
          ddos attack

          https://www.rt.com/news/351645-rt-massive-ddos-attack/

          • I would not discredit RT as a whole, but like with any other media, it pays to be careful and to read between the lines, and to always apply some cautionary approach, re what is reported and what it may be based on. Also I consider the “ulterior motives” that may be at play.

            These days propaganda is highly sophisticated, what our John Key does is rather low level stuff, in large places like US, China, Russia, they can package “information” in reports and so that may seem totally convincing and true, but checking through it over time, there often is at least a slight bias.

            That is where RT are no better than CNN, than other large US media corporations or even Fox TV. The worst are probably the Chinese, of the major powers, often unashamedly being biased and propagandistic, but all done with modern technology and media settings that resemble what we get everywhere else in the west.

          • Of course you are correct…one should be eternally vigilant for propaganda…and prepared to change one’s views with new evidence

            here are two more links from RT:

            ‘WikiLeaks suffers ‘sustained attack’ after announcing megaleak of Turkey govt docs’

            https://www.rt.com/news/351995-wikileaks-attack-turkey-documents/

            and this one from CrossTalk discussion is particularly critical of Erdogan:

            ‘Bullhorns on the coup’

            https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/

            “Turkey on the brink: after a failed coup attempt the country is in disarray. And President Erdogan is exacting his revenge against the military and those deemed disloyal. Where does Turkey go now?

            CrossTalking with Xavier Moreau, Dmitry Babich, and Mark Sleboda.”

  12. We can see now, how President Erdogan, the target of the coup leaders and supporters, is extremely paranoid, and is basically dishing out revenge. I heard a translated speech of him, which he held two days ago, he talked about the dead as “martyrs”, and their blood being “in the ground”, and that those responsible should be punished harshly.

    One must ask, why does he now get thousands of judges sacked, many thousands of administrators and even teachers and journalists? Some of them will face the courts, being tried by the remaining, I suppose government (AK Party) friendly judges.

    Did the teachers “support” the coup, I ask?

    I dare say this is BS.

    Turkey is now being turned into a de-facto dictatorship. Sadly with the last general elections the AK party got a majority, so has control of Parliament. Also have opposition MPs been forced to face “corruption” or other charges, which the Parliament now allows to be pursued, as it lifted MP’s immunity.

    With the frequent mention of it, public demand for it, and the president saying, if the Parliament will pass it into law, we will see the reintroduction of the death penalty. With the AK party majority this is likely to become reality.

    We will see a very different Turkey for the future years, but I fear, there will be much anger by those now suppressed, and people in the opposition and those belonging to the Kurdish and other minorities. We will not have more stability, there is possibly a threat of a proper civil war ahead in the not too distant future.

    RIP democracy in Turkey.

    • This discussion is a more balanced view than your ,dare I say it, propaganda..and far from being a trivial matter it seems to be a very important geopolitical shift in the region.

      ‘Erdogan’s Turkey’

      https://www.rt.com/shows/crosstalk/352637-turkey-post-coup-policy/

      “Post-coup attempt realities: With Turkish President Erdogan firmly in control, he has demanded a cleansing of the military and many social institutions. What kind of Turkey does he intend to create? And will Turkey’s foreign policy change?

      CrossTalking with Martin Jay, Yunus Soner, and Daniel Faraci.”

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