Colonels and generals implicated in the rebellion were fired and loyal troops rescued the military chief who had been taken hostage at an air base on the outskirts of Ankara. They announced martial law.
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He characterized himself as sympathetic to the coup because it appeared to have been led by those who want the country to return to a more secular form of government. All parliamentary parties condemned the putsch attempt and foreign governments lined up behind the civilian cabinet. “They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason”, Erdogan said.
FILE – In this September 24, 2013 file photo, Turkish Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is pictured at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pa.
“It was the worst nightmare and we were waiting for the first trickle of light so that things could get back to normal”, Geeta told Hindustan Times. Larger groups of soldiers soon started to surrender. Over 2,800 army personnel have been arrested, and 2,700 relieved of their duties.
The Turkish military sees itself as the guardian of Kemalism, and has overthrown four Turkish governments since 1960 in the name of protecting Turkey’s democracy from chaos and Islamic influence. Nearly 2,750 judges were fired for their alleged links to the coup leaders.
But there are growing concerns about a government crackdown on Erdogan’s opponents and what that may mean for a key ally in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. The moderate cleric, one-time Erdogan’s ally, has lived in the USA for the last 17 years.
Explosions and gunfire were heard in Ankara, Istanbul and Marmaris overnight and thousands of Turks heeded Erdogan’s call to rise up against the coup-plotters.
Turkey is a key partner in USA -led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, and has allowed American jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists in nearby Syria and Iraq. Now again today after the coup I say it again. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey.
The Turkish government said Saturday that the coup had failed and government forces remained in control.
“The situation is completely under control”, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara office.
“There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup, by Mr Erdogan’s AKP Party, and it could be meant for further accusations, against the Gulenists and the military”, Fathullah Gulen, who is in exile in Pennsylvania, told the media Saturday.
Secretary of State John Kerry said the US would entertain an extradition request for Gulen. Secretary Kerry says the Obama administration would consider Erdogan’s extradition request given Turkey could prove Gulen’s wrongdoing. “And the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments about it appropriately”.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Kerry had called Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for a second day running to promise U.S. support in probing the putsch.
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Experts said the country has faced increasing turmoil, with the failed coup unlikely to be the end of it.
