ANKARA, July 16 (Reuters) - Turkish authorities on Saturday removed 2,745 judges from duty following an attempted coup by a military faction overnight, broadcaster NTV reported, citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosectors (HSYK).
Five members of HSYK, Turkey's highest judiciary board, were also removed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
A military and judicial purge
Turkish PM: Any country that stands by cleric Gulen
will be at war with Turkey
Reuters: Any country that stands by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen will not be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with the NATO member, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
The government said that followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday.
The government accuses Gulen of trying to build a "parallel structure" within the judiciary, education system, media and military as a way to overthrow the state, a charge the cleric denies. Link - ( New Window )
Im starting to really appreciate the 22nd amendment
Affect the US, EU, if Erdogan moves towards a Caliphate as opposed to a democratic nation? There's a lot to take in here, trying to see how this affects our relationship with Turkey, does it remain status quo??
Lets go big picture for a bit then see if details fit
Look at Egypt, you had an election, due to fecklessness, outdated ideas and overreaching of the Egyptian moderates and or secularists (and particular western associates of them?), an Islamist, supporter of I.S. and A.Q. Morsi, won.
Without help or guideance from the West, the Egyptian military took over, doing possibly for us what we were unwilling to do politically or covertly for ourselves (politically).
Back in Turkey, after being thwarted on an E.U. entry application, Turkey elects an Islamist (Erdogan) and shortly thereafter, Syria becomes destabilized, with a strong Al_Queda style movement (ISIL) growing rapidly on the Syrian border with Turkey.
One wonders how a NATO member can allow or even vet that, Bizzarro world, NATO as dickless wonders again, just when NATO/EU is bumbling and fumbling Ukraine.
Details?
Early reports of Coup in Turkey say "widespread" "powerful coup" and "long time coming" to "put islamists back in their place"...then..
Erdogan must have been tipped off weeks in advance, is not anywhere to be found, and response is well co-ordinated. Who tipped him off?
(Turkish?) Jet leaves airbase (shared with USA? vetted by USA?) in support of islamist leader, shoots down secularist helicopter over capital.
Yemen, Egypt, Turkey, Syria has been a lack of unified vision, lack of human intelligence locally and basically either wallowing in neutral or even being played by the enemy.
And sometimes it's much better. Like with Egypt, you have a military coup against a democratically elected Islamist who has been slowly stripping away democracy since he got into office. You can't have a democracy without freedom of the press.
Very good point. Democracy is not just elections. It requires fundamental rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. Without those you don't have democracy
who currently lives and owns a business in Istanbul:
Quote:
Put into words my family's exact experience. "Like many others in Turkey we'd been discussing the option of leaving the country for the past few years. Feeling terribly insecure and hopeless on many levels, I wanted to just go, wherever where we can find some form of peace for our kid while my husband found it unrealistic. A few months ago I asked him: "What needs to happen for you to decide to leave?" And he said:"If there are tanks in our neigborbood, I'll leave." Yesterday, on the worst night of our lives so far, that moment came." from a friend's status on facebook.
Can't help but feel things will become worse for that country
''RE: RE: While Edrogan is awful...
Vanzetti : 12:04 pm : link : reply
In comment 13034565 Milton said:
Quote:
In comment 13034443 SanFranNowNCGiantsFan said:
Quote:
Sometimes the alternative is much, much worse.
And sometimes it's much better. Like with Egypt, you have a military coup against a democratically elected Islamist who has been slowly stripping away democracy since he got into office. You can't have a democracy without freedom of the press.
Very good point. Democracy is not just elections. It requires fundamental rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. Without those you don't have democracy''
and the bad guys are not dumb, in one place they will use bombs, in another votes, but the 'in end' goal, you wont like at all either way.
'objectivity' its getting absurd, they bend over backwards to understand the bad guys:
Example, on France 24 today, they interviewed basically a muslim brotherhood guy who spoke as an apologist for the truck killer terrorist's long history of crime and sin, saying that in certain cases (martyrdom a.k.a. terror to them) all would be forgiven. (as opposed to how we seek redemption, the opposite way)
not as in context of 'explaining the mind set of the bad guys' it was present in a much more neutral way than that, could easily have been taken as a recruitment essay, really was presented in a very neutral way...the bad guys are very foxy and sneaky,
why France 24 would give that guy airtime right now is beyond me.
its in the constant equivocating, the constant reminders of the narrative, the constant reversion to reminding us of our own sins of yore, as if that all might explain or excuse these acts of terror and violence, which it doesn't,and they dont.
The Turkish government has closed the airspace around Incirlik Air Base in Turkeys south, putting a temporary halt to coalition airstrikes against Islamic State from the country, according U.S. defense officials.
Turkey closed the space citing safety concerns, the official said. The move followed the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government.
U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook.
Incirlik is a U.S. base about 60 miles from the Syrian border, giving U.S. jets and unmanned drones critical logistics for daily attacks on the radical group compared with other sites across the region in use. The official said the military would compensate by shifting operations to other bases. British bases on nearby Cyprus could be used, as could bases in Iraq.
U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign, Mr. Cook said.
Military personnel are also being asked not to leave the base, where about 1,700 U.S. service members are stationed. Turkey originally closed access to and from the base, although those restrictions have been lifted. U.S. Service members are now being ordered to remain on base to comply with State Department advice for Americans to shelter in place.
''
1. Did the replacement of Ozel by Akar as head of the Turkish military in 2015, along with other senior staff changes, mean that the army would never move as a unified force? Was the Gulen faction moving with what they had with little chance for success?
2. Is the US now going to be presented with a "no Gulen, no Incerlik" ultimatum from Erdogan? How do they respond? How does a potential death penalty, allowed in parts of the US but not favored by the President or Secretary of State, come into play?
3. Does Erdogan move Turkey towards a Putin style cleptocracy of a fundamentalist Islamic State?
4. What happens to the PKK? They didn't participate but would make a convenient scapegoat.
5. Does whatever direction Erdogan takes create a whole new class of refugees? Either a small majority or sizable minority of Turks want a Western lifestyle. If he moves in a fundamentalist direction where do they end up and what impact does it have on the Turkish economy?
6. Where does the leadership of the Turkish military end up. Does Erdogan's military end up like Chavez' oil industry in Venezuela?
Interesting that I'm reading about that here, but have not heard of this from the talking heads??? I worry about Erdogan and his slow purging of his opposition, and his moves to be autocratic. Why do we not hear of this in the media?? Is this an intelligence failure??
Lol. The media gives you what they want you to hear. They ceased reporting the news a long time ago. They MAKE it.
First, our own extradition requests are frequently denied, even from close allies like UK and Japan. Most notably the Enon exes.
Secondly, we can deny extradition on several grounds, particularly is if the defendant is accused of a political offense. Which is probably when Erdogen is framing this as "terrorism" and not a coup.
The Associated Press @AP 3 minutes ago
BREAKING: Turkey's state-run media: 7 prosecutors enter base key to US-led fight against IS militants as part of probe into coup.
The Associated Press @AP 3 minutes ago
BREAKING: Turkey's state-run media: 7 prosecutors enter base key to US-led fight against IS militants as part of probe into coup.
Incirlik was jointly used by US and Turkish forces. This may or may not be an issue depending on the scope of their actions.
The more stuff that comes out combined with the moves he is making
Erdogan would be an extraordinarily fortunate fella indeed for such an inept, bumbling coup to come about at such an opportune moment. A Reuters source said that two F-16s were on Erdogan's plane but for inexplicable reasons didn't shoot it down. Huh? I saw a link somewhere to this piece by an expat Turkish journalist in Sweden. I can't vouch for this guy because I know nothing about him, but it's an interesting read:
Quote:
More surprising for me is the amateurishness of the attempted coup on the night of July 15. As a veteran observer of military coups and coup attempts in Turkey, I have never seen any with this magnitude of such inexplicable sloppiness.....
In no previous military coup or coup attempt in Turkeys history has parliament been bombed by military helicopters and fighter jets.
Why did the coup attempt begin with blocking one side of Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge? Why was the passage from the Asian side to Europe blocked while the passage from Europe to Asia was allowed to flow?
Why did the putschists knowing that Erdogan was neither in Ankara nor Istanbul but instead spending his vacation in the Mediterranean seaside town of Marmaris not move to detain him? They let him travel from Marmaris to the nearby Dalaman airport and then fly to Istanbul on a flight that took over an hour.
Why did the putschists not seize the main TV news channels and instead waste precious time taking over the least-watched state TV channel, TRT, allowing their targets to regroup and use more popular channels and social media effectively to challenge the coup attempt?....
Twenty-four hours had not passed after the collapse of the coup attempt when 140 judges judges of the Court of Appeals and 48 judges of the Council of State, two of the highest judiciary institutions were taken into custody. Summarily purged from the judiciary apparatus were another 2,475 judges. A member of the Constitutional Court, the highest institution of the judiciary, was arrested and charged with association with the putschists.
On top of that, the Turkish Interior Ministry suspended almost 9,000 officials over the weekend, including 30 provincial governors and 47 district governors. This is within 2-3 days of the start of the coup. That's an awfully large number of people to purge in such a short time. Link - ( New Window )
'At the height of the attempt to overthrow Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the rebel pilots of two F-16 fighter jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights. And yet he was able to fly on.
The Turkish leader was returning to Istanbul from a holiday near the coastal resort of Marmaris after a faction in the military launched the coup attempt on Friday night, sealing off a bridge across the Bosphorus, trying to capture Istanbul's main airport and sending tanks to parliament in Ankara.
"At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan's plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul. They locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him," a former military officer with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
"Why they didn't fire is a mystery," he said.
A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, could have sent Turkey spiraling into conflict and marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged its southern neighbor Syria into civil war.
A senior Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that Erdogan's business jet had been harassed while flying from the airport that serves Marmaris by two F-16s commandeered by the coup plotters but that he had managed to reach Istanbul safely.
A second senior official also said the presidential jet had been "in trouble in the air" but gave no details.
Erdogan said as the coup unfolded that the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris and had bombed places he had been at shortly after he left. He "evaded death by minutes", the second official said.
Around 25 soldiers in helicopters descended on a hotel in Marmaris on ropes, shooting, just after Erdogan had left in an apparent attempt to seize him, broadcaster CNN Turk said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had also been directly targeted in Istanbul during the coup bid and had narrowly escaped, the official said, without giving details.
Flight tracker websites showed a Gulfstream IV aircraft, a type of business jet owned by the Turkish government, take off from Dalaman airport, which is about an hour and a quarter's drive from Marmaris, at about 2240 GMT on Friday.
It later circled in what appeared to be a holding pattern just south of Istanbul, around the time when a Reuters witness in the airport was still hearing bursts of gunfire, before finally coming in to land.
Was the best for that region. Noth that has happened since has changed my opinion. Turkey is an ally on paper and only when it's convenient for Erdogan. He's Putin at this point IMO. And like Putin he wants more power and control and is taking what he wants. He won't stop anytime soon
1. Did the replacement of Ozel by Akar as head of the Turkish military in 2015, along with other senior staff changes, mean that the army would never move as a unified force? Was the Gulen faction moving with what they had with little chance for success?
2. Is the US now going to be presented with a "no Gulen, no Incerlik" ultimatum from Erdogan? How do they respond? How does a potential death penalty, allowed in parts of the US but not favored by the President or Secretary of State, come into play?
3. Does Erdogan move Turkey towards a Putin style cleptocracy of a fundamentalist Islamic State?
4. What happens to the PKK? They didn't participate but would make a convenient scapegoat.
5. Does whatever direction Erdogan takes create a whole new class of refugees? Either a small majority or sizable minority of Turks want a Western lifestyle. If he moves in a fundamentalist direction where do they end up and what impact does it have on the Turkish economy?
6. Where does the leadership of the Turkish military end up. Does Erdogan's military end up like Chavez' oil industry in Venezuela?
In a press conference this afternoon Erdogan refused to rule out the death penalty. Point 2 has become very relevant.
The Associated Press @AP 2 minutes ago
BREAKING: Turkey's state media says ministry of education sacks 15,200 for alleged ties to group govt blames for failed coup.
The Associated Press @AP 2 minutes ago
BREAKING: Turkey's state media says ministry of education sacks 15,200 for alleged ties to group govt blames for failed coup.
One wonders how the coup failed if all 15,200 were participants. Or is Erdogan purging anyone that ever had any connections with Gulen.
Reuters Top News @Reuters 2 minutes ago
'We will dig them up by their roots': 50,000 targeted in Turkish purge after failed coup
Around 50,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the coup attempt, stirring tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria's chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State.
"This parallel terrorist organization will no longer be an effective pawn for any country," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, referring to what the government has long alleged is a state within a state controlled by followers of Fethullah Gulen.
"We will dig them up by their roots," he told parliament. Link - ( New Window )
The Associated Press @AP 47 seconds ago
The Latest: Turkish media says the government begins to revoke the licenses of 21,000 teachers at private schools.
The Associated Press @AP 47 seconds ago
The Latest: Turkish media says the government begins to revoke the licenses of 21,000 teachers at private schools.
There are roughly 300 Gulen Movement Schools in Turkey so those teachers are the likely target.
''As the July 15 coup attempt was taking place in Turkey, Turkish-speaking ISIS social media lit up against the coup and against the overthrow of Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. ISIS cadres knew if the coup succeeded, it would mean their end in Turkey.''
''Despite Erdogans claims that he is fighting ISIS, evidence indicates that he has been, and continues to be, deeply complicit in allowing ISIS to transport, not just recruits via Turkey, but also weapons and supplies. These chilling facts have been confirmed over and again during our ISIS defector interviews. A former emir [commander] told us that ISIS had been able to construct thousands of propane tank bombs from supplies they brought in through Turkey.''
''That ISIS members would cheer for Erdogan and his government and against the attempted coup, shows how much freedom they have been enjoying under Erdogans administration. From foreign fighters to traders of ISIS sex slaves, alleged perpetrators have been released from prison without trial.
In March 2016, the leader of ISIS in Turkey, Halis Bayancuk and his deputies, were suddenly released from prison though there was ample evidence of Bayancuks activities managing foreign fighter movement and logistical support for ISIS, including helping two French women travel from Istanbul to Gaziantep, a well known border town in southeastern Turkey, to join ISIS.
Similarly, a legal case against Gaziantep businessmen who were facilitating the sale of ISIS sex slaves over the Internet was abruptly closed in a manner unusual for Turkish courts.
As Erdogan has beaten the attempted coup and consolidated even more power to himself, it appears that ISIS also scored a big win. And it begs the question, should we expect more ISIS attacks if its cadres are able to more freely move people and supplies across the Syrian border via Turkey, ISIS gateway into Europe and beyond?''
Five members of HSYK, Turkey's highest judiciary board, were also removed, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
A military and judicial purge
Reuters:
Any country that stands by the Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen will not be a friend of Turkey and will be considered at war with the NATO member, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday.
The government said that followers of Gulen, who has been living in self-imposed exile in the United States for years, were behind the attempted coup by a faction of the military on Friday.
The government accuses Gulen of trying to build a "parallel structure" within the judiciary, education system, media and military as a way to overthrow the state, a charge the cleric denies.
Link - ( New Window )
Without help or guideance from the West, the Egyptian military took over, doing possibly for us what we were unwilling to do politically or covertly for ourselves (politically).
Back in Turkey, after being thwarted on an E.U. entry application, Turkey elects an Islamist (Erdogan) and shortly thereafter, Syria becomes destabilized, with a strong Al_Queda style movement (ISIL) growing rapidly on the Syrian border with Turkey.
One wonders how a NATO member can allow or even vet that, Bizzarro world, NATO as dickless wonders again, just when NATO/EU is bumbling and fumbling Ukraine.
Details?
Early reports of Coup in Turkey say "widespread" "powerful coup" and "long time coming" to "put islamists back in their place"...then..
Erdogan must have been tipped off weeks in advance, is not anywhere to be found, and response is well co-ordinated. Who tipped him off?
(Turkish?) Jet leaves airbase (shared with USA? vetted by USA?) in support of islamist leader, shoots down secularist helicopter over capital.
Obama simultaneously supports strongly Islamist leader verbally.
Islamist wins and immediately fires 2,300 JUDGES (who had nothing to do with the coup), in addition to purging secularists from military.
MSNBC says "its all good"
Did I miss anything?
Quote:
Sometimes the alternative is much, much worse.
And sometimes it's much better. Like with Egypt, you have a military coup against a democratically elected Islamist who has been slowly stripping away democracy since he got into office. You can't have a democracy without freedom of the press.
Very good point. Democracy is not just elections. It requires fundamental rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. Without those you don't have democracy
Vanzetti : 12:04 pm : link : reply
In comment 13034565 Milton said:
Quote:
In comment 13034443 SanFranNowNCGiantsFan said:
Quote:
Sometimes the alternative is much, much worse.
And sometimes it's much better. Like with Egypt, you have a military coup against a democratically elected Islamist who has been slowly stripping away democracy since he got into office. You can't have a democracy without freedom of the press.
Very good point. Democracy is not just elections. It requires fundamental rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. Without those you don't have democracy''
and the bad guys are not dumb, in one place they will use bombs, in another votes, but the 'in end' goal, you wont like at all either way.
Example, on France 24 today, they interviewed basically a muslim brotherhood guy who spoke as an apologist for the truck killer terrorist's long history of crime and sin, saying that in certain cases (martyrdom a.k.a. terror to them) all would be forgiven. (as opposed to how we seek redemption, the opposite way)
not as in context of 'explaining the mind set of the bad guys' it was present in a much more neutral way than that, could easily have been taken as a recruitment essay, really was presented in a very neutral way...the bad guys are very foxy and sneaky,
why France 24 would give that guy airtime right now is beyond me.
its in the constant equivocating, the constant reminders of the narrative, the constant reversion to reminding us of our own sins of yore, as if that all might explain or excuse these acts of terror and violence, which it doesn't,and they dont.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demands the US extradite the Muslim cleric he blames for attempted coup.
our jets etc are suddenly locked down
which supposed Turkish 'help vs ISIL' had been -vastly- overstated by our media in the first place.
'' Updated July 16, 2016 12:37 p.m. ET
1 COMMENTS
The Turkish government has closed the airspace around Incirlik Air Base in Turkeys south, putting a temporary halt to coalition airstrikes against Islamic State from the country, according U.S. defense officials.
Turkey closed the space citing safety concerns, the official said. The move followed the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government.
U.S. officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible, said Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook.
Incirlik is a U.S. base about 60 miles from the Syrian border, giving U.S. jets and unmanned drones critical logistics for daily attacks on the radical group compared with other sites across the region in use. The official said the military would compensate by shifting operations to other bases. British bases on nearby Cyprus could be used, as could bases in Iraq.
U.S. Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign, Mr. Cook said.
Military personnel are also being asked not to leave the base, where about 1,700 U.S. service members are stationed. Turkey originally closed access to and from the base, although those restrictions have been lifted. U.S. Service members are now being ordered to remain on base to comply with State Department advice for Americans to shelter in place.
''
a lovely little present for the ISILs 'Uncle Erdogan'
2. Is the US now going to be presented with a "no Gulen, no Incerlik" ultimatum from Erdogan? How do they respond? How does a potential death penalty, allowed in parts of the US but not favored by the President or Secretary of State, come into play?
3. Does Erdogan move Turkey towards a Putin style cleptocracy of a fundamentalist Islamic State?
4. What happens to the PKK? They didn't participate but would make a convenient scapegoat.
5. Does whatever direction Erdogan takes create a whole new class of refugees? Either a small majority or sizable minority of Turks want a Western lifestyle. If he moves in a fundamentalist direction where do they end up and what impact does it have on the Turkish economy?
6. Where does the leadership of the Turkish military end up. Does Erdogan's military end up like Chavez' oil industry in Venezuela?
(who possibly had no idea about all this)
(and I get the subtext, we need to make 'as normal' our base operations there in short term, the jets and above all our people)
BUT
Can we push our own ass any higher? pass the K-Y anyone?
the founder of Chobani - funding the muslim brotherhood. Who knows what you are supporting when you buy a cup of that over-rated sour crap.
Lol. The media gives you what they want you to hear. They ceased reporting the news a long time ago. They MAKE it.
(who possibly had no idea about all this)
(and I get the subtext, we need to make 'as normal' our base operations there in short term, the jets and above all our people)
BUT
Can we push our own ass any higher? pass the K-Y anyone?
Knock it off, fuckwit. You're going to get this thread deleted.
Would have to be pretty elaborate. About 8 officers flew helicopter to Greece requesting asylum. The Greeks have acknowledged.
Secondly, we can deny extradition on several grounds, particularly is if the defendant is accused of a political offense. Which is probably when Erdogen is framing this as "terrorism" and not a coup.
BREAKING: Turkey's state-run media: 7 prosecutors enter base key to US-led fight against IS militants as part of probe into coup.
BREAKING: Turkey's state-run media: 7 prosecutors enter base key to US-led fight against IS militants as part of probe into coup.
Incirlik was jointly used by US and Turkish forces. This may or may not be an issue depending on the scope of their actions.
In no previous military coup or coup attempt in Turkeys history has parliament been bombed by military helicopters and fighter jets.
Why did the coup attempt begin with blocking one side of Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge? Why was the passage from the Asian side to Europe blocked while the passage from Europe to Asia was allowed to flow?
Why did the putschists knowing that Erdogan was neither in Ankara nor Istanbul but instead spending his vacation in the Mediterranean seaside town of Marmaris not move to detain him? They let him travel from Marmaris to the nearby Dalaman airport and then fly to Istanbul on a flight that took over an hour.
Why did the putschists not seize the main TV news channels and instead waste precious time taking over the least-watched state TV channel, TRT, allowing their targets to regroup and use more popular channels and social media effectively to challenge the coup attempt?....
Twenty-four hours had not passed after the collapse of the coup attempt when 140 judges judges of the Court of Appeals and 48 judges of the Council of State, two of the highest judiciary institutions were taken into custody. Summarily purged from the judiciary apparatus were another 2,475 judges. A member of the Constitutional Court, the highest institution of the judiciary, was arrested and charged with association with the putschists.
On top of that, the Turkish Interior Ministry suspended almost 9,000 officials over the weekend, including 30 provincial governors and 47 district governors. This is within 2-3 days of the start of the coup. That's an awfully large number of people to purge in such a short time.
Link - ( New Window )
All hail Grand Emperor Gollum.
'At the height of the attempt to overthrow Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the rebel pilots of two F-16 fighter jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights. And yet he was able to fly on.
The Turkish leader was returning to Istanbul from a holiday near the coastal resort of Marmaris after a faction in the military launched the coup attempt on Friday night, sealing off a bridge across the Bosphorus, trying to capture Istanbul's main airport and sending tanks to parliament in Ankara.
"At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan's plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul. They locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him," a former military officer with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
"Why they didn't fire is a mystery," he said.
A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, could have sent Turkey spiraling into conflict and marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged its southern neighbor Syria into civil war.
A senior Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that Erdogan's business jet had been harassed while flying from the airport that serves Marmaris by two F-16s commandeered by the coup plotters but that he had managed to reach Istanbul safely.
A second senior official also said the presidential jet had been "in trouble in the air" but gave no details.
Erdogan said as the coup unfolded that the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris and had bombed places he had been at shortly after he left. He "evaded death by minutes", the second official said.
Around 25 soldiers in helicopters descended on a hotel in Marmaris on ropes, shooting, just after Erdogan had left in an apparent attempt to seize him, broadcaster CNN Turk said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had also been directly targeted in Istanbul during the coup bid and had narrowly escaped, the official said, without giving details.
Flight tracker websites showed a Gulfstream IV aircraft, a type of business jet owned by the Turkish government, take off from Dalaman airport, which is about an hour and a quarter's drive from Marmaris, at about 2240 GMT on Friday.
It later circled in what appeared to be a holding pattern just south of Istanbul, around the time when a Reuters witness in the airport was still hearing bursts of gunfire, before finally coming in to land.
2. Is the US now going to be presented with a "no Gulen, no Incerlik" ultimatum from Erdogan? How do they respond? How does a potential death penalty, allowed in parts of the US but not favored by the President or Secretary of State, come into play?
3. Does Erdogan move Turkey towards a Putin style cleptocracy of a fundamentalist Islamic State?
4. What happens to the PKK? They didn't participate but would make a convenient scapegoat.
5. Does whatever direction Erdogan takes create a whole new class of refugees? Either a small majority or sizable minority of Turks want a Western lifestyle. If he moves in a fundamentalist direction where do they end up and what impact does it have on the Turkish economy?
6. Where does the leadership of the Turkish military end up. Does Erdogan's military end up like Chavez' oil industry in Venezuela?
In a press conference this afternoon Erdogan refused to rule out the death penalty. Point 2 has become very relevant.
Is it s fairly safe bet that all are people who believe in the basics of civil society, law, freedom of press, secularism and so forth?
I would wonder who gave Erdogan the tip off.
How long has it been since Turkey really gave a fuck about what they say?
BREAKING: Turkey's state media says ministry of education sacks 15,200 for alleged ties to group govt blames for failed coup.
BREAKING: Turkey's state media says ministry of education sacks 15,200 for alleged ties to group govt blames for failed coup.
One wonders how the coup failed if all 15,200 were participants. Or is Erdogan purging anyone that ever had any connections with Gulen.
'We will dig them up by their roots': 50,000 targeted in Turkish purge after failed coup
Around 50,000 soldiers, police, judges, civil servants and teachers have been suspended or detained since the coup attempt, stirring tensions across the country of 80 million which borders Syria's chaos and is a Western ally against Islamic State.
"This parallel terrorist organization will no longer be an effective pawn for any country," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, referring to what the government has long alleged is a state within a state controlled by followers of Fethullah Gulen.
"We will dig them up by their roots," he told parliament.
Link - ( New Window )
The Latest: Turkish media says the government begins to revoke the licenses of 21,000 teachers at private schools.
Education is in direct conflict with instituting laws best served in the Dark Ages
The Latest: Turkish media says the government begins to revoke the licenses of 21,000 teachers at private schools.
There are roughly 300 Gulen Movement Schools in Turkey so those teachers are the likely target.
BREAKING: Turkey's President Erdogan says there may have been foreign countries involved in coup attempt.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international-affairs/288452-turkeys-failed-coup-a-victory-for-isis
''As the July 15 coup attempt was taking place in Turkey, Turkish-speaking ISIS social media lit up against the coup and against the overthrow of Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. ISIS cadres knew if the coup succeeded, it would mean their end in Turkey.''
''Despite Erdogans claims that he is fighting ISIS, evidence indicates that he has been, and continues to be, deeply complicit in allowing ISIS to transport, not just recruits via Turkey, but also weapons and supplies. These chilling facts have been confirmed over and again during our ISIS defector interviews. A former emir [commander] told us that ISIS had been able to construct thousands of propane tank bombs from supplies they brought in through Turkey.''
''That ISIS members would cheer for Erdogan and his government and against the attempted coup, shows how much freedom they have been enjoying under Erdogans administration. From foreign fighters to traders of ISIS sex slaves, alleged perpetrators have been released from prison without trial.
In March 2016, the leader of ISIS in Turkey, Halis Bayancuk and his deputies, were suddenly released from prison though there was ample evidence of Bayancuks activities managing foreign fighter movement and logistical support for ISIS, including helping two French women travel from Istanbul to Gaziantep, a well known border town in southeastern Turkey, to join ISIS.
Similarly, a legal case against Gaziantep businessmen who were facilitating the sale of ISIS sex slaves over the Internet was abruptly closed in a manner unusual for Turkish courts.
As Erdogan has beaten the attempted coup and consolidated even more power to himself, it appears that ISIS also scored a big win. And it begs the question, should we expect more ISIS attacks if its cadres are able to more freely move people and supplies across the Syrian border via Turkey, ISIS gateway into Europe and beyond?''
BREAKING: Turkey will have a state of emergency for three months to tackle Gulen movement - President Erdogan