They advise Irish citizens in Turkey or intending to travel there to “exercise a high degree of caution” and strongly recommend obtaining comprehensive travel insurance. A faction of the armed forces tried to seize power using attack helicopters to strafe the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and the parliament in the capital, Ankara.
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He said the USA had no prior indication of the coup attempt, which came as Erdogan was on vacation.
People carry a man, wounded during firefight between police and the army, in Istanbul, today. During a video call broadcasted live on television, Erdogan invited his voters to defy the ban and come out in the streets against the military.
It appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military, and Turkey’s main opposition parties quickly condemned the attempted overthrow of the government.
Erdogan also said that “rogue elements” in the military involved in the coup would “pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey” and “those who stain the military’s reputation must leave”.
Supporters describe Gulen as a moderate Muslim cleric who advocates interfaith dialogue. Visiting Istanbul on Friday, he described seeing tanks and hearing police and soldiers in a gunfight around 7:40 p.m. CDT.
There was chaos in the city as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with much smaller numbers welcoming the troops. Larger groups of soldiers soon started to surrender.
Some 2839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have also been arrested, the country’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said.
Turkey’s General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, has been detained while Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into custody.
In a statement meant for US President Barack Obama, Erdogan said: “I told you myself, either deport or hand over to us this person who lives in 400 acres of land in Pennsylvania”.
“Erdogan has really shut down the democratic process”, said Austin-based human rights lawyer Jim Harrington, who follows politics in Turkey and wrote a report a year ago called “Turkey: Democracy in Peril”.
The prickly back-and-forth
occurred as Turkey closed its airspace, effectively grounding US warplanes that had been targeting Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq. “I definitely can not say this, but this is one of the possibilities”. Turkey demanded their extradition.
Kilicdargolu says “this event has united us on a common ground, and that common ground is our dedication to the republic and democracy”.
French President Francois Hollande said on Saturday he expected there would be a period of repression in Turkey in the aftermath of a failed coup by some elements of the military. Whichever country supports him isn’t a friend of Turkey.
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Gulen denies any connection to the coup attempt and has suggested the whole thing may have been staged.
