A military and judicial purge is underway in Turkey as a result of a failed coup against President Tayyip Erdogan who labels the coup attempt a “Gift from God”.
From the Telegraph Live Feed.
President Erdogan says military elements guilty of ‘treason’, as he tells nation government is in charge, after violent clashes in Ankara and Istanbul leave ‘161 dead’
Mr Erdogan accused the coup plotters of trying to kill him and launched a purge of the armed forces, which last used force to stage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.
“They will pay a heavy price for this,” said Mr Erdogan, who also saw off mass public protests against his rule three years ago. “This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army.”
In the first signs of a crackdown, on Saturday morning the government announced 2,700 judges were suspended from duty.
Mr Yildirim told public television that while the death penalty is not permitted under the Turkish constitution, they will consider legal changes “to make sure this does not happen again.”
Factions within the military carried out the attempted coup. The leader is not yet known, but the prime minister said colonels were involved.
A lawyer for the Turkish government says “there are indications of direct involvement” in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.
Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm “have attempted repeatedly to warn the US government of the threat posed” by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.
He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, “there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government”.
The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas denied the charges.
Guardian Live Feed
Let’s now take a look at the Guardian Live Feed.
Turkey detains top general and judge
Turkish authorities have detained one of the military’s top generals and a member of the nation’s highest court, according to Anadolu news and CNN Türk.
Reuters has background on the officials: “General Adem Huduti is the most senior officer to be apprehended so far following the attempted intervention that killed more than 160 people. … Alparslan Altan is a member of the country’s top court and the most senior judicial figure among scores of civilians detained so far.”
Turkish ministers returned to parliament, where at least one bomb had exploded on Friday night and where sections of the building lie in ruin.
Any country that stands by exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen will be considered an enemy of Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said in remarks reported by Reuters.
Yildirim and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have accused Gulen, who lives at a remote compound in central Pennsylvania, of orchestrating the coup with a faction of the military. They have said that Gulen created a “parallel structure” within the courts, media and military.
Gulen has condemned “in the strongest terms the attempted military coup” and “categorically” denied any involvement. “Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” he said in a statement.
Defiant Turks Stood up for Democracy – but Not Necessarily for Erdoğan
Please consider Defiant Turks Stood up for Democracy – but Not Necessarily for Erdoğan
Activists and critical politicians have been quick to signal that joint resistance to the failed military takeover did not spell growing support for the ruling AK party (AKP) government.
Many have argued that the lack of popular support for the military plotters was one of the main reasons that the attempted coup failed but underlined that opposition to the intervention of the military did not translate to backing for the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Shortly after news of the uprising broke on Friday night, Turkey’s opposition parties issued statements condemning the military’s violent intervention and professing their support of the elected government. Social media sites, if throttled, were awash with people opposing the coup attempt, and despite a curfew declared by the military, tens of thousands took to the streets in Turkish cities.
“The resistance against the coup attempt last night was quite heterogenic,” said Erol Önderoglu, Turkey’s Reporters Without Borders representative who is currently on trial on terrorist propaganda charges after participating in a solidarity campaign with a pro-Kurdish newspaper. “The most valuable outcome of last night’s events is that many people who are not AKP supporters stood up for democratic values despite the recent crackdowns on the opposition, and despite the tension and the polarisation of the country.”
However, not everyone shared his optimism. “Everyone spoke out against the coup last night and that gave me hope,” said an academic who wished to remain anonymous. “But watching events unfold today this hope has shrunk quickly. Last night there was the possibility that the government would use this to return to a more unifying language, to return to the peace talks, to unite the country. But today it looks like they will use [the coup attempt] simply to consolidate power.”
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
It’s hard to say what is really going on here but the important question is, can Turkey drag the US (government) into war with Russia over Syria. Hopefully, it cannot
So there has been a fire at the Reichstag set by Der Fuhrer’s opponents, soon to be followed by The Night of The Long Knives…imagine that.
I suppose that we shall soon see Erdogan’s true colors, which I suspect is a hard core Islamist. Heard a ‘reporter with perspective’ (who lived in several countries including Turkey for years) last night on the news who vehemently defended Turkey: ‘It’s not like the Midnight Express Turkey that Americans may think! There is no death penalty! It’s a civilized democracy!” My answer – brace yourself snowflake – times they are about to change! Many people are going away for EVER.
Hopefully Europe is taking notes and denies full integration for this Islamist state masquerading as a multicultural tolerant democracy.
Yes Mox Nix, unless as I fear, the EU authoritarians are looking to an Islamist Turkey for their new model.
Erdogan has won and Secular Democracy has lost.
The Turkish Military ignored its responsibility under the Turkish Constitution for too long and allowed Erdogan to pack its upper ranks with Islamic Fundamentalists, Islamic judges, and Erdogan’s own security forces.
This last ditch effort by the junior ranks was doomed to fail as it lacked a strong chain of command dedicated to Secular Democracy.
The ‘purge’ is underway and will result in an Islamic State run by a dictator.
Just like Hitler, Saddam, and Assad, Erdogan followed a political formula that will give him a greater level of control in Turkey than Putin has in Russia.
The U.S. should talk to Putin to see what we could get by removing all NATO forces from Turkey. We should arm the Kurds and use Kurdish air bases to fight ISIS as Turkey is really now a supporter of ISIS.
We have backed the wrong horse in this race. Obama and Hillary have been wrong here and we are about to reap the results.
Looks like another Sunni-Shiite mix up. The Sunnis outnumber the Shiites about 3 to 1 in Turkey and the Shiites saw the writing on the wall. Should have known when they talked about freedom, Constitution, and democracy that they didn’t have anything to do with the West.
I wonder which side the US was feeding intelligence to.
All revolutions fail because they are not based philosophically and policy wise on the concept of Grace which is the intention to take power….so that it may be given back to the individual.
wisdomicsblog.com
Grace being a gift and a policy of Gifting…is impossible to long resist….even by the irrationally austere, the power obsessed or those hypnotized and blinded by the idea of Debt Only. Personal graciousness and policies perfectly aligned with the concept of Grace are universal solvents, the ultimate concept and experience of Wisdom and hence the ultimate in relevancy and the integrative inclusiveness of truths that will finally enable Mankind to grow up and thrive.
wisdomicsblog.com
When are we finally going to NUKE these bastards? For the Kurds and the Armenians we turn Turkey into a parking lot.
Brilliant!
USA USA USA
Don’t worry neanderthal, football will be stating soon.
This cleric they are blaming is one of the few Muslim heroes we have today. He’s all about peace and interfaith action and dialogue. Erdogan the closet jihadi can’t tolerate that. If his Iranian buddies ask for it, I expect Obama to try to throw this good man to the wolves.