On the night of 15 July 2016, a group of soldiers who call themselves as Peace at Home Council tried to stage a coup in Turkey.[1] The group occupied many important centers of Ankara and Istanbul. They also declared a curfew from state television of the country, TRT.[2]
But, the group encountered a huge resistance, especially after the speech of President Erdogan, which had issued live in CNN Turk. During the night, police and military forces exchanged fire in several places. Coup plotters hit critical points in the capital, including Turkish Parliament for several times by their air forces.[3]
Moreover, civilians who went out to protest coup attempt has been chosen as targets as well. After ongoing conflicts which continued till early in the morning, coup plotters failed and law enforcement has taken control on all over the country again. The conflicts caused 240 people to die whom 62 are police 5 are soldiers and 173 are civilians.
Turkish Government accused the Gulen Movement (FETO) for the attempted coup. The government requested extradition of Fetullah Gulen, who is the leader of FETO. Besides, 8 coup plotters went to a Greek Island with a military helicopter and requested for asylum there, which may create another extradition problem for Turkey in the future.[4]
Turkish authorities started a huge custody action after preventing the coup. So far, 7,500 soldiers have been detained, including 85 generals and admirals. 8,000 police have been removed from their posts and 1,000 arrested. 3,000 members of judiciary, including 1,481 judges have been suspended. 1,577 university deans have been asked to resign. All in all, over 60,000 state officials from different ministries have been dismissed or suspended from duty.[5]
Furthermore, the Government declared countrywide state of emergency for 3 months.[6] One of the first things has done after declaring the emergency state was suspending the European Convention on Human Rights.[7]
Consequently, the tension is still high in Turkey and it looks like it is going to remain this way for a longer time.
Kaan Erdoğan
[1]The Guardian, Military Coup Attempted in Turkey Against Erdogan Government, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/15/turkey-coup-attempt-military-ankara-istanbul (accessed July 22,2016)
[2] Daily Sabah, Coup Soldiers Raided State-Run Broadcoaster TRT, Forcefully Announced Coup Declaration, http://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2016/07/17/coup-soldiers-raided-state-run-broadcaster-trt-forcefully-announced-coup-declaration (accessed July 22, 2016)
[3] Independent, Parliament Hit By Bomb, Reports Say, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-coup-parliament-hit-by-bomb-reports-say-a7139941.html (accessed July 22, 2016)
[4] Vanguard, 8 Turkish Coup Plotters Requested Asylum in Greece, http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/8-turkish-coup-plotters-request-asylum-greece-police/ (accessed July 22, 2016)
[5] Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Scale Of Turkey”s Purge, http://www.rferl.org/contentinfographics/scale-of-turkeys-purge/27869282.html (accessed July 22, 206)
[6] Anadolu Agency, Turkish Parliament Ratifies 3-Month State of Emergency, http://aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkish-parliament-ratifies-3-month-state-of-emergency/613010 (accessed July 22, 2016)
[7] Anadolu Agency, Turkey Suspends Human Rights Convention After Failed Coup, http://aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-suspends-human-rights-convention-after-failed-coup/613143, (accessed July 22, 2016)