“Turkey’s internal life has entered a different-quality phase,” Cengiz Aktar, well-known publicist, Associate Professor at Süleyman Şah University, told 168.am reflecting to the attempted coup overnight. He stated that the night will leave a rather negative track in Turkey’s internal life. Aktar said that an attempted coup was recorded by planned military figures or intellectuals of the regime.
“Attempted coup, in fact, has foiled. A while ago the Prime Minister mentioned in his speech that the attempt foiled, and they’re controlling it. However, he also called on the people to go to the streets with the flags of Turkey. It’s interesting if plotters have been completely neutralized, and they’re controlling the situation, why did Erdogan call on the people? Basically, not everything has calmed down, either they are afraid of the second attempt. Attempted coup was mainly initiated by General Command of the Turkish Air Force and Gendarmerie General Command.”
Secretary General Zannier expressed faith in the wisdom of the Turkish leadership: “ I call on the Turkish Government and democratic institutions to exercise restraint in the aftermath of last night’s events. Rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights and freedom of the media must be upheld even in difficult times. We stand ready to support Turkey in safeguarding the common values and principles that constitute the cornerstone of the OSCE,” said Zannier.
“As a result of its adventurous policy in the field of foreign policy Turkey appeared on the threshold of heavy geo-political defeat, that’s why they attempted to overcome that situation by settling its relations with Russia and Israel. Crisis was observed inside the country as well: basically, Kurdish rebel movement continues, and they fail to put an end to that. On the other hand, we observe among the society, that polarization between powers sharing different views is intensifying, and a part of the army decided to put an end to that situation and alienate Islamists, represented by Erdogan, from the authorities. However, we observed, that the army didn’t act united,” the Turkologist said.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdoğan is reportedly seeking asylum in Europe, as a military coup continues in Turkey, U.S. military sources tell NBC News. Erdoğan’s presidential jet was allegedly denied landing rights at Istanbul’s airport, before heading out of the country. He was then denied asylum in Germany, according to NBC, before heading to London.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ announced 1563 members of the Turkish armed forces have been arrested, 5 generals, 29 colonels were dismissed from their posts for the coup attempt. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced that one of the generals supporting the coup has been killed during the operations. According to the preliminary data, the Armenian citizens or Armenians didn’t suffer during the military operations in Turkey.
The video shows Turkish military personnel crossing the Bosphorus bridge with their hands in the air following an attempted coup against the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At least 42 people – mostly police officers – were killed in Ankara in a gunfire exchange with a helicopter near the parliament complex, Turkey’s NTV reported, citing the attorney general’s office. At least 1,000 people in Istanbul and Ankara were hospitalized after a night of violence rocked the country.
In Washington, US President Barack Obama urged all parties in Turkey to support the “democratically elected government.” Nato called for “full respect” for Turkey’s democratic institutions. European Council President Donald Tusk said the country was “a key partner for the European Union”.
“Go to the streets and give them their answer,” Erdogan said via the video chat app. “I am coming to a square in Ankara. This was done from outside the chain of command. Those who are responsible, we will give them the necessary punishment.”
