‘Now they will pay a heavy price’
it was clear the putsch was failing despite bursts of continuing gunfire, families were out taking selfies with the seized tanks; several flew the country’s red flag with white crescent from their turrets.
The successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming a major Western ally and key player in the Syrian crisis. Officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armoured units were mainly involved in the attempt, said the government. The uprising seems not to have been backed by many of the most senior military figures. Turkey’s main opposition parties condemned the attempted overthrow. Many MPs took shelter inside the parliament building in Ankara, which came under heavy fire. The Speaker said an explosive hit one corner of an office in the complex, injuring several police officers. Among those trapped there was Ali Sahin, the country’s deputy Europe minister, who told The Mail on Sunday they were shelled repeatedly. ‘There was an attempted coup,’ he said. ‘But the people pushed them back.’
He shared pictures from his phone of mangled metal, shattered glass and piles of rubble inside the national assembly building. Erdogan, who was on holiday in Marmaris, took to social media to defend his rule – which was ironic, given his intense dislike of such technology when used by his enemies.
The President appealed for support via Facetime, appearing on the iPhone of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so viewers could see him.
Then he flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday, insisting his government remained in control despite attempts to attack him in Marmaris. ‘They bombed places I had departed
MoS man sees savage retribution against Turkey plot
Night of drama turns on leader’s mobile phone plea
But President uses triumph for ominous crackdown
right after I was gone,’ he said. After he arrived at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, Erdogan declared: ‘They have pointed the people’s guns against the people.’ Then he added ominously: ‘What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price.’
As news emerged that the two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus were closed and pictures began circulating on social media of tanks on streets and soldiers confronting police, panic spread. Diners abandoned pavement cafes and bars. There were queues to withdraw large sums of cash at banks. After the President’s invocation, groups began marching towards Istanbul’s central Taksim Square.
Many troops looked young and confused, onlookers told the MoS. Later about 30 pro-coup soldiers gave up their weapons when surrounded by armed police in the square. Mosques blared out the call to prayer and urged people on to the streets to join the resistance against the coup attempt. By dawn the noise of gunfire and explosions in the two key cities began dying down.
As the soldiers surrendered on one of the two bridges over the Bosphorus, there were scenes of celebration from those who had faced them down through the night.
Television footage showed troops being forced to kneel, hands clamped to heads. A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. I saw two army bases blockaded by lorries and other large vehicles. At the Etimesgut armoured units training command, on the outskirts of Ankara, it was reported that officers arrested some of their fellow soldiers participating in the plot.
Turkey’s military ousted four civilian governments between 1960 and 1997. Many people I spoke with in Istanbul were furious that some of the armed forces had attempted to revive this unwanted tradition.
Critics fear Erdogan will now seek to present himself as a champion of democratic values after fighting off a challenge to a government that won 49 per cent of the vote in November. There are fears he will use the cover of eliminating the plotters to tighten his grip on power. Yesterday, it emerged 2,745 judges had been dismissed from their posts, the latest purges in the legal system.
Erdogan, who told citizens to ‘keep on owning the streets’ yesterday amid fears of further unrest, blamed the coup on Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who lives in the US.
The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned military intervention in domestic politics.
The bloodshed could destabilise a Nato member sitting between the EU and Syria. But for now, there is just relief on the streets of Istanbul that further bloodshed and strife has been avoided in this divided and troubled nation.