Brutal fall-out for rebel soldiers after failed coup
CIVILIANS reclaimed Turkey from their own military yesterday after helping to end a coup to overthrow ruling President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ordinary Turks dragged rifle-wielding soldiers from their tanks and beat them as they took back control of their country in dramatic fashion. In one striking image, a Turkish civilian whipped rebel fighters with his belt after they had surrendered to police.
President Erdogan told the nation his government was in charge after the coup attempt on Friday brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire that left at least 161 dead and 1500 wounded.
He also called on people to “keep on owning the streets” over fears of a fresh uprising.
The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blame on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the south-east.
Fighting continued throughout yesterday with the sounds of huge blasts echoing across the capital Ankara and Istanbul.
More than 2800 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the night as a “dark stain for Turkish democracy”.
He pinned blame for the attempted coup on a “parallel terrorist organisation” – a reference to the movement led by Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric.