Turkish Military Reportedly Seizes Control of Government
by VOA News July 15, 2016
The Turkish military on Friday said that it had assumed power over Turkey, in what the prime minister has termed an illegal act.
The situation is changing quickly and details are emerging, but the army put out an e-mail statement, read on Turkish television, saying it had "fully seized control" of the government to protect democracy and maintain human rights.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told private NTV television, "It would be wrong to call it a coup," calling it an "illegal attempt" by "part of the military" who are outside the chain of command to seize power.
"The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so," Yildirim said on the private channel NTV.
'Rogue group'
The prime minister said those behind the move were part of a "rogue group" – not the entire army. He said the group stormed the main TV station, TRT, and forced broadcasters to read a statement saying a curfew had been imposed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who conducted an interview through Facetime with a local TV station Friday, urged the Turkish people to go to the streets, to the airports to fight the group, whom he alleged to be associated with U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. It was not know where he was during the interview.
Massive crowds were seen in several parts of Istanbul.
Military jets flew over the capital Ankara, with gunshots and tank fire reported.
There are numerous reports that hostages have been taken in the Turkish capital, Ankara. CNN Turk says they are being held at a military headquarters there.
The state-run Anadolu press agency says the chief of military staff, General Hulusi Akar, is among those being held.
"General Hulusi Akar has been taken hostage by a group in the military who attempted an uprising," the agency said, citing "credible sources."
Attaturk Airport is apparently closed to traffic and tanks are blocking the entrance. Security forces had also blocked all traffic from crossing the Bosphorus and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges, the two main bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, but cars appear to be moving again.
Footage on local television channels showed tanks deployed at Istanbul's main airport, and media reports say all flights from the airport have been canceled.
In addition, reports indicate ATMs and banks have been shut down.
Scrambling for information
U.S. military and diplomatic officials are scrambling to find out exactly what is going on in Turkey.
In Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hopes Turkey will resolve the crisis while preserving peace, stability, and a respect for "continuity."
U.S. National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said U.S. President Barack Obama's "national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey," and he will continue to receive regular updates.
NATO member Turkey has become a key U.S. ally in the war against Islamic State terrorists and for its support for the moderate opposition looking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The U.S. uses Incirlik air base in Turkey as a staging area to launch airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria.
Islamic State is blamed for last month's suicide bombing at the Ankara airport which killed more than 40 people.
"The coup really throws regional crises into a different stage," said Patrick Skinner, a former intelligence officer now with the Soufan Group, a New York organization that provides strategic security intelligence services to governments and multinational organizations.
Current and former U.S. intelligence and military officials have long pointed to Turkey's critical role both in the Syrian refugee crisis and in blocking the flow of fighters and supplies to the Islamic State terror group.
"A military government would likely crack down on ISIS and extremist groups that heretofore the government had perhaps seen more in the light as a tool against Assad than a domestic threat," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. "But perhaps the focus shifts a bit as internal needs supersede CT [counterterror] concerns."
Skinner said it is possible that a military government could look to strengthen its ties with the West, but that there is no way at this point to know for sure.
There is also concern as to how a series of other issues will be impacted by the apparent coup, including the fate of Turkey's Kurdish population as well as Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria, as well as the involvement of Russia and Iran in the region.
"One would be hard pressed to pick a more destabilizing place for a coup right now," Skinner said.
Earlier this week, CIA Director John Brennan admitted to disagreements between the U.S. and Turkey, and not just over Syria, where the U.S has repeatedly urged Turkey to do more to crack down on IS.
"There are some things that are going on inside the Turkish political system that are subject to a lot of debate and even controversy," he said.
"But I'll just leave it that we do work closely with the Turks," Brennan added. "I have very close interaction with my Turkish counterpart."
VOA's National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin, Mary Alice Salinas at the White House and VOA's Turkish service contributed to this report.
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