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coup underway .

gardenmom5

By gardenmom5,
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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in turkey. reports the general chief of staff has been taken prisoner, erdogran is reported safe, bridges over the bosphorous are both closed, reports of explosions, low flying helicopters, gun fire, f15s over Ankara . . . military seizing police weapons . .

 

I can't link on this browser . . . how annoying.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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Someone started a wiki page. That is weird to me that a wiki is started on something unverified. I grew up with Thailand having many coup d'état

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Turkish_coup_d%27état_attempt

 

the prime minister of turkey,  binali yildirim,  is publically commenting on the attempted/in-progress coup (that the government is fighting back)  - that's hardly unverified.

 

eta: I should have added my son sent me links to reuters twitter feed and two others, before I went looking for more on other news sites.

Edited by gardenmom5
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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It looks like a failed attempt. Not all coup attempts are successful, thankfully! I was in high school when we had one like that in Spain. It was unnerving but democracy won.

If you go to news sites broadcasting live, you'll see things are very much in turmoil. Only time will tell who comes out with power. The military is more secular than erdogan - who's becoming increasingly autocratic.

Edited by gardenmom5
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Kathryn

Kathryn

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Yes. I worry about that far more than if they succeed.

 

Erdogan is on his way to becoming a dictator. A failed coup will cement that.

My thoughts exactly.

 

I think a lot of people in America who don't know anything about Turkey see "military coup" and think right-wing/conservative takeover.

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Ausmumof3

Ausmumof3

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It looks like a failed attempt. Not all coup attempts are successful, thankfully! I was in high school when we had one like that in Spain. It was unnerving but democracy won.

Not necessarily the case in turkey as I believe the govt have a history of eroding democratic rights. So the military could be attempting to reinstate them. Possibly.

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Tanaqui

Tanaqui

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Wel, this is unexpected news.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/europe/military-attempts-coup-in-turkey-prime-minister-says.html?_r=0

 

Twitter users are way out ahead of the news outlets but harder to tell fact from fiction there.

 

Not really. A Turkish friend was telling me not that long ago that the ongoing situation in Turkey was unnerving precisely because the military hadn't stepped in and told Erdogan where he could go and what he could do with himself once he was there.

 

And he hasn't been getting better since then either.

 

(She also corrected my pronunciation. Apparently it's ErdoÄŸan, and the ÄŸ does not mean /g/ (the sound in goal) as it does in English.)

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LisaKinVA

LisaKinVA

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"Situation in Turkey for U.S. Military: Force Protection Condition Delta. For perspective, that was the condition ordered following 9/11."

 

As an aside, dependents and non-military were evacuated this past spring due to deteriorating situations there (it was on spring break -- a family was here in Naples and was not able to return home to get things).  ISIS (et. al.) have been targeting the US base there.

 

Travel to Turkey (even for stop-overs/layovers) not advised.  My dh was supposed to go there in 2 weeks to inspect ships.  Our guess is that this will be canceled (like the last trip).  

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Closeacademy

Closeacademy

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As an aside, dependents and non-military were evacuated this past spring due to deteriorating situations there (it was on spring break -- a family was here in Naples and was not able to return home to get things).  ISIS (et. al.) have been targeting the US base there.

 

Travel to Turkey (even for stop-overs/layovers) not advised.  My dh was supposed to go there in 2 weeks to inspect ships.  Our guess is that this will be canceled (like the last trip).  

This is interesting and disturbing.  I know a girl who was studying through the US state department and she just came home exactly a week before the bombing at the airport a few weeks ago.  I wonder why they didn't evacuate the high school exchange students studying Turkish but did evacuate everyone else?  Scary stuff there.

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DawnM

DawnM

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Wow, that was over quickly.  I will be watching the news later today to see exactly what that means.

 

I have lived through 3 coups, two in Kenya and 1 in Liberia.  They were very bloody and dangerous and didn't end nearly as fast.

 

This has me more concerned for the people of Turkey.

Edited by DawnM
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SproutMamaK

SproutMamaK

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I'm also concerned about the coup in Turkey. Erdogan is now going to lock things down even more for the people. I'm not sure how that's possible, but I'm sure that's he'll find a way. How long with the people and press be able to say ANYTHING negative about him? I agree with the concern that this may all but cement him as a dictator.

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Lanny

Lanny

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This is interesting and disturbing.  I know a girl who was studying through the US state department and she just came home exactly a week before the bombing at the airport a few weeks ago.  I wonder why they didn't evacuate the high school exchange students studying Turkish but did evacuate everyone else?  Scary stuff there.

 

U.S. Government employees, including U.S. Military, are under the control of the U.S. Government.  Tourists, and other civilians who are overseas, are generally on their own and they must make their own decisions if there is a crisis.  U.S. Citizens in Turkey were advised yesterday to "Stay inside and shelter in place".

 

The son of one of my cousins and his family lived in Ankara for 2 or 3 years, while he was on assignment there. I think they moved back to the states in 2013 or 2014.  Early in 2015, he had to go back to Ankara, for 2 or 3 weeks. After that trip he told his mother, "I never want to go back there!"

 

Apparently, the Turkish military has a history of restoring democracy and freedom to the people of Turkey, that has been taken away from them by the President.    Also, the Turkish military is friendly with the U.S. Military.

 

Any U.S. Citizens in Turkey should stay inside and shelter in place.

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PrincessMommy

PrincessMommy

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Yes, but this it is a private social group.

 

but anyone can join from WTM.  I joined when it first started and the conversations there have all been mature, informed, and insightful (as of the last time I was there).  

 

Of course, we haven't dipped our toes into murky politics of crock pots yet :lol:

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AFwife Claire

AFwife Claire

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I heard on the news last night that the US Gov't backed Erdogan.  That doesn't make me happy.

What?!?  The military has always been our ally, not the Turkish government!  Oh my goodness, I'm really ill now.  Turkey has always sent military officers over here to get their advanced degrees at our military institutes (like the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio).  My parents have had wonderful relationships with so many of these officers and their families.  Single ones have lived for 18 months with my parents, and the married ones my dad helps the men with the grammar on their theses, and my mom teaches English to the wives and does social things with them.  They're like grandparents for them.  I know so many of these officers and their families.  The older ones are probably ones involved, and the younger ones have been so worried about Erdogan and his policies.  This is very, very bad.  

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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Wow, that was over quickly.  I will be watching the news later today to see exactly what that means.

 

I have lived through 3 coups, two in Kenya and 1 in Liberia.  They were very bloody and dangerous and didn't end nearly as fast.

 

This has me more concerned for the people of Turkey.

I expect a bloodbath.

 

I'm also concerned about the coup in Turkey. Erdogan is now going to lock things down even more for the people. I'm not sure how that's possible, but I'm sure that's he'll find a way. How long with the people and press be able to say ANYTHING negative about him? I agree with the concern that this may all but cement him as a dictator.

he probably see's it as a gift to further consolidate his power. 

 

ds was there several years ago on a class service trip (we came to hate turkey after that trip - the US state dept ended up involved in attempting to release the tens of thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment the gov't seized that students were donating to schools and hospitals), he didn't give me the details - but it was extremely clear to him at that time no one was to say anything to criticize Erdogan.

 

I heard on the news last night that the US Gov't backed Erdogan.  That doesn't make me happy.

 

considering the things the US govt has been doing the last few years, I'm not the slightest bit surprised.  I recall in 2009 in Honduras - the Honduran supreme court and congress removed their president (with the backing of the Honduran military) because he was trying to become dictator - the us gov't backed the would be dictator.

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Lanny

Lanny

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The headline story about this on FoxNews.com as I write this post is that thousands of Turkish soldiers have been arrested. Erdogan is reasserting control now and soon the bloodbath will begin, as he transitions to a more Islamist regime, and cements his power as dictator.  I watched an interview with John Bolton, that aired last night in the USA. I believe one of the things he said was that the high ranking U.S. trained military officers had already been purged, and the lower ranks are more faithful to Erdogan. It was very interesting. This has huge implications, not only for Turkey, but for the Middle East, Europe and the entire world.

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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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I've seen some rumors that it may have been staged by Erdogan. Normally I'd roll my eyes, but... well, let's just say he's not on my list of top ten world leaders. (But these days, who is?)

there are now reports out he's having secular judges arrested.   troop who were involved - thought they were doing an exercise.  he's gleefully cracking down.  it seems there is more evidence this was staged as an excuse for him to do a power grab.

 

and in march - he made accusations the military was planning a coup - charges the military denied.

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hornblower

hornblower

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I heard on the news last night that the US Gov't backed Erdogan.  That doesn't make me happy.

 

 

What?!?  The military has always been our ally, not the Turkish government!  

 

He was democratically elected, and regardless of his policies after, he remains very popular.  I dislike religious fundamentalism and the crackdown on freedom of expression but I think it's increasingly untenable for us to support military coups just because we don't like whom the people there chose. It seems the US played that game so many times (esp in Central and South America) and honestly I'd not like to see that repeated. 

 

& the idea that we're making alliances with military factions and not the government would be extremely troubling to me. 

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Murphy101

Murphy101

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He was democratically elected, and regardless of his policies after, he remains very popular. I dislike religious fundamentalism and the crackdown on freedom of expression but I think it's increasingly untenable for us to support military coups just because we don't like whom the people there chose. It seems the US played that game so many times (esp in Central and South America) and honestly I'd not like to see that repeated.

 

& the idea that we're making alliances with military factions and not the government would be extremely troubling to me.

I've long claimed the USA govt is full of crap when it says it cares about democracy outside our borders. The only time I've ever seen our govt care about democracy in other countries is when it's a handy excuse to force someone we think will support our best financial or political control in the region - then and only then we want the people to "democraticly" select that person and if they don't, well we will go behind the scenes to fix that for them.

 

Not a fan of the policy.

Edited by Murphy101
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gardenmom5

gardenmom5

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Yeah, plenty of dictators-in-training have some popularity - generally from the part of the population they're not purging. 

 

It's extremely troubling that he is purging the judiciary, imo. 

 

I agree that coups are not the answer, but in that case, the world had better find another answer to an increasingly authoritarian state under which innocent people suffer.

 

and prosecutors, and journalists, and the numbers are growing.  anyone who has publicly spoken against him should consider themselves in danger.

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