Strange things happening in Turkey. Gendarme (military police) has taken over policing in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara. Trans Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul are closed.
Turkey
Strange things happening in Turkey. Gendarme (military police) has taken over policing in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara. Trans Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul are closed.
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Gunfire reported. Military jets and helicopters in action.
Originally Posted by Ominous Gamer
Some sources suggesting terrorist threat, some suggesting military coup.
Both are making the rounds now. Ambulances at the building of the General Staff suggest a terrorist attack
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Pro AKP newspaper claims a coup attempt by Gulen backed officers. Website is down.
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Coup attempt, PM Yildirim just said on NTV.
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You got to be fucking kidding me
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
So both sides claim to be in control?
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Officially a coup. My money is on the military.
Wonder if we'll start to see German satirists freed from prosecution soon ...
Yes, state tv and main airport of Istanbul are taken over.
Turkish military is claiming to be in control and that they are in the process of arresting members of the government.
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Can't we catch our fucking breathes for five minutes without major world changing events happening
When the sky above us fell
We descended into hell
Into kingdom come
I don't see how Erdogan's rule is going to survive this. I think this is it.
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Most eventful year since the fall of the Soviet Union I think. So much for the end of history decades ago.
Military has taken control of state TV. It could be all over in one evening.
Stay safe.
There's a man goin' 'round, takin' names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Quite by coincidence I am in Amsterdam. According to my regular schedule I should have landed in Ataturk by now.
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Actually this coup was in the going long before I connected the dots. The first signs were that the police had disappeared from the Taksim area where my house in Istanbul is. But as that got told I still thought that it had to do with fear of a terrorist attack. Just before I posted my first message I heard from a friend it was the same in Izmir and Ankara. That s when I started to understand this was bigger.
But obviously the government didn't have a clue untill the attack on the General Staff buillding in Ankara.
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Do you think this is a good thing? Because my initial reaction was actually: "Well, it can't be worse than Erdogan."
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
I'm totally torn about it. On the one hand I remember the 1980 coup and it wasn't pretty. On the other hand, Erdogan was turning into a dictator of the worst kind and destroying the fabric of society. If the army really is in this to stop him in his tracks and restores democracy to an extent this may be a good thing.
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This coup strongly resembles the 2002 one against Chavez. How did that one end?
Erdogan enjoys the strong support of a third of the population. The Egyptian military had to lock up 40k people to keep the peace (and they haven't succeeded). Turkish is likely to be messier. That assumes the coup succeeds. I'd put money against that for now.
Hope is the denial of reality
I don't know what to say or think. Just a couple of weeks ago I was feeling uneasy about Erdogan making nice with Putin and Netanyahu and wondering what he'd get up to next. Now this happens. Feel like this will worsen the security situation in Europe dramatically and I don't even want to think about what it may mean for the refugees in Turkey.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Well it seems they are not going to have it. Strange day indeed.
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What the hell?Okay I have some questions, based on 'breaking news' reports:
Is it true that Turkey's constitution puts the military in charge of keeping religion (ie Islamist rule) out of the government?
If that's true....with a constitution like that, how did they become a member of NATO?
The only thing left to debate is how much Erdogan will use this opportunity to repress and force through this presidential constitution.
Hope is the denial of reality
Not really. I'm still wondering how Turkey became part of NATO if their constitution is so flawed? Can anyone explain that?
(I know the US is reluctant to use the word "coup", because that would mean a whole chain of legal mandates. Didn't we have the same dilemma with Egypt and the "Arab Spring"?)
There was this thing called a Cold War.
Hope is the denial of reality
What do you think that has to do with being in NATO? NATO was and is a defensive military pact. Equivalent Cold War-originating alliances in other parts of the globe have included countries rules by straight dictators.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
But part of the pact is defending its members from/against aggressive actors that might want to take down the entire government. Erdogan could ask the US to defend his presidency, because he was democratically elected. But since Turkey is part of NATO, and all actions have multiple implications, the military operatives could make the same argument -- that a military coup was not only constitutional, but in the best interests of the region.
If the military coup fails.....does that mean the US and other NATO members have to accept Erdogan's growing Islamist preferences?
It doesn't take an expert on international relations to know that we're fucked up on a global scale.
No that is not what the pact is. The pact is to offer defence against external invasion not an internal coup.
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