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Scores Dead, Injured Following Failed Turkey Coup
July 16, 2016
by RFE/RL
Security operations were continuing across Turkey on July 16 following a failed military coup attempt overnight that left many dozens of people dead and more than 1,000 injured.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on July 16 confirmed that Turkish security forces loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government had imposed a lockdown on the Incirlik Air Base in the southeast of the country -- a facility where about 1,500 U.S. soldiers also are based for operations against Islamic State (IS) militants in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
Cavusoglu said the lockdown was imposed because some Turkish soldiers at Incirlik were involved in the attempted coup. He said some arrests had been made there.
Meanwhile, the state-run Anadolu Agency said the commander of Turkey's Second Army, General Adem Huduti, was detained in connection with the attempted military takeover as a roundup of suspected coup plotters continued.
Huduti, the most senior officer to be apprehended so far, heads forces that protect Turkey's borders with Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
Lieutenant General Erdal Ozturk, the commander of Turkey's Third Army Corps, also was detained on July 16 and faces charges of treason.
Headquartered in Istanbul, Ozturk's field corps is the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps from Turkey's First Army.
CNN Turk reported that Alparslan Altan, a member of the country's top court, also was detained on July 16 -- the most senior judicial figure among scores of suspects detained.
Although the government said the situation in the country is "under control," President Erdogan posted a message on the Twitter social-media site urging supporters to remain in the streets to prevent "a new flare-up" of coup activity.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed that Turkey has closed the airspace around Incirlik as part of its lockdown -- forcing a temporary halt of air strikes launched from the facility against IS militants.
NATO-member Turkey, with a population of some 80 million, is a key player in the effort to combat IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
A U.S. consulate official in Turkey said pro-government security forces where denying movement on and off the Incirlik base on July 16 and had cut power to the facility as the roundup of suspected coup plotters continued.
The Pentagon said U.S. forces at Incirlik were not in danger and were using internally generated power to continue operations in the facility.
However, U.S. military command in Europe on July 16 ordered U.S. forces across Turkey to take maximum protective measures known as "Delta" force protection level – which is invoked when a terrorist attack is taking place or security threat appears imminent.
The U.S. military has about 2,200 troops and civilian contractors stationed in Turkey, including about 1,500 at Incirlik.
Earlier on July 16, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Haberturk television that 161 people were killed and 1,440 were injured during the unrest the previous night.
He did not appear to be including the 104 soldiers supporting the coup who were reported killed overnight, meaning the death total for the unrest would be at least 265.
Yildirim said 2,839 military personnel supporting the coup attempt had been arrested.
Yildirim said the coup attempt was a "black mark" on Turkish democracy.
Government officials also said that five generals and 29 colonels were removed from their posts for suspected involvement in the bid to overthrow the Erdogan's government.
The acting military chief of staff, General Umit Dundar, said that 41 police officers were among the dead.
"The coup attempt has been foiled," Dundar said at an Ankara news conference.
Dundar said that an unknown number of loyalist military officers are still being held by coup plotters in unknown locations.
He said the military is determined to eliminate "parallel structures" within its ranks. He said most of the coup participants were connected with the Air Force.
"A group within the military carried out an attempt, outside of the chain of command, to overthrow the democratically elected government," Erdogan's office said in a statement early on July 16.
At an extraordinary session of parliament called on July 16 by Yildirim to discuss the crisis, all four parties in the legislature condemned the coup and backed the government.
Turkish maritime authorities reported that the Bosphorus Strait had been reopened and that traffic through the strategic waterway was "back to normal."
Eight soldiers who were involved in the coup fled in a helicopter to neighboring Greece. Ankara has called for their extradition, while Athens said it would consider the soldiers' asylum request.
Regional powers Iran and Israel both issued statements condemning the coup attempt. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said he had spoken three times with his Turkish counterpart and wrote on Twitter that "coups have no place in our region."
Saudi Arabia also said it "welcomes the return of the situation to normal under the leadership" of Erdogan.
The coup plotters used tanks and aircraft during the night, including attacks on the parliament building and the president's office in Ankara. The headquarters of Turkey's intelligence service also came under attack during the night.
The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that some 200 unarmed soldiers at the Turkish military headquarters had surrendered to government security forces.
The chief of the military staff, General Hulusi Akar, was detained by coup supporters during the night, but was freed by a helicopter rescue mission early on July 16.
Most news stations in the country appeared to be up and running again, and Istanbul's Ataturk airport, which the military had shut down at the outset of the putsch attempt, had resumed processing flights.
Dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds wounded in nightlong battles and street fighting in Istanbul and other cities, with the heaviest casualties of at least 42 dead in Ankara, the scene of the heaviest fighting.
Erdogan claimed the coup plotters had tried to kill him by bombing a resort where he had been vacationing. He arrived back in Istanbul during the night to rally supporters against the coup and to pledge to "cleanse" the military of disloyal elements.
"They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason," Erdogan said when he arrived at Istanbul's airport. "We will not leave our country to occupiers."
At a critical time during the struggle, U.S. President Barack Obama urged all parties to support Erdogan's democratically elected government and to "show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed," the White House said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and emphasized the United States' "absolute support" for the government.
Their announcements were echoed quickly afterwards by the leaders of the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, a key colleague of Turkish military officers who called for "full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution."
EU leaders Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker on July 16 urged a "swift return" to normalcy in Turkey, saying "there is no alternative to democracy and the rule of law."
While Erdogan and his deputies blamed a handful of military officers for leading a "minority" uprising in the military, overall they blamed the coup attempt on a political opponent: the reclusive Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
Yildirim said countries that support Gulen would be considered enemies of Turkey.
Kerry said the United States would consider an extradition request for the exiled cleric, but said Anakara would have to present evidence of wrongdoing by Gulen that withstands scrutiny.
Speaking in Luxembourg on July 16, Kerry said Turkey had not requested Gulen's extradition.
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said he made it clear in talks with Kerry on July 16 that Ankara believes the coup attempt was carried out by a network of Gulen supporters.
But he said he did not raise the issue of an extradition request during his conversation with Kerry.
Gulen, a one-time Erdogan ally with many followers in Turkey's military and government offices, vigorously denied any involvement, saying "governments should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force."
"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt," Gulen, 75, added. "I categorically deny such accusations."
With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, the Dogan news agency, and dpa
Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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