Turks repel attempted coup
President urges people to flood the streets in resistance after military tries to take power
ISTANBUL, TURKEY— Military factions in Turkey tried to seize control of the country late Friday, setting off a furious scramble for power and plunging a crucial NATO member into chaos in what al- ready was one of the world’s most unstable regions.
Early Saturday, however, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose whereabouts were unclear through a long night of turmoil, flew to Istanbul Ataturk Airport, a presidential aide said. It was a strong sig- nal that the coup was failing.
Explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital left dozens dead. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu News Agency, said more than 120 arrests were made.
There were indications that coup leaders, at a minimum, did not have a tight grip on many parts of the country. Supporters of Erdogan took to the streets of Istanbul to oppose the coup plotters, and there were scattered reports some of its
Turkish president describes coup attempt as act of treason, says those leading it will pay a heavy price
leaders had been arrested.
Martial law was declared in the country, which has been convulsed by military takeovers at least three times in 50 years. Erdogan, an Islamist who has dominated politics for more than a decade and sought to exert greater control over the armed forces, had to use his FaceTime app to broadcast messages beseeching the public to resist the coup attempt.
The violent attempted coup that swept parts of Ankara and Istanbul from late Friday into Saturday has left Turkish Canadians feeling uncertain and worried about family and friends.
The attempt to take power, which saw anti-government sects of the military occupy major government buildings and attack pro-government forces, left the country divided over who was actually in control.
“I’m so angry, I don’t know what to do,” said Dilara Kurtaran, a 22-yearold Turkish Canadian whose has family in Istanbul and Ankara.
“I just got off work and my mom messages me to tell me to buy international calling cards. She said we were going to need a lot because things had gone bad back home.”
Kurtaran has lived in Canada since she was a teenager, but much of her family — including her dad, aunt and uncle — live in Turkey. She and her mother spent most of Fridayglued to their computeto learn “anything and everything” they could about the situation unfolding back home.
To Kurtaran, the coup is especially bad because her mother just sold her home in Canada so she could move back to Turkey to take care of her ailing grandmother. Now, Kurtaran fears things will only get worse.
“Do I have to worry everyday now? Am I going to have to call them every time something happens, just to see if they’re OK? If they’re alive?”
Maidina Kadeer Ozbek, a 20-yearold Canadian staying with family in Turkey, was at a wedding in Ankara when the violence began. In a phone interview with the Star, Ozbek described the scene as “like a war zone.”
“There’s smoke from people burning stuff, police sirens, people breaking windows — it looks like they’re looting — a lot of rioting,” Ozbek said. “People are angry on both sides. The (pro-government) people and people who don’t want to see a violent takeover. It’s a divide.”
Ozbek, whose father is Turkish, was planning to fly back to Istanbul on Monday, with plans to stay until August before returning to Toronto. “I do feel scared, but I am in a position of privilege, really. If the airport opened again, I could just fly home. Not everybody can.”
Tevfik al Jerrahi, leader of the Jerrahi Sufi Order of Canada, an Etobicoke-based religious group that has a largely Turkish following, said his daughter is in Turkey now, but he’s more worried about the instability in the country.
“My daughter, I am not worried about,” he said. “But whatever powers may want this to happen are probably doing so because they know what chaos will be left (after) it is all done.”