Yahoo – AFP, Fulya Ozerkan with Raziye Akkoc in Istanbul, July 16, 2016
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| People react after taking over military position on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul, on July 16, 2016 (AFP Photo/Bulent Kilic) |
Ankara
(AFP) - Turkish authorities wrested back control of the country Saturday, after
crushing a military coup by discontented soldiers seeking to seize power from
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that claimed more than 250 lives.
After
facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan triumphantly
addressed thousands of supporters in his home Istanbul district after Friday's
chaos in the strategic NATO member of 80 million people.
The
authorities blamed Fethullah Gulen, the US-based cleric who is Erdogan's arch
enemy, for the plot and lost no time in rounding up 2,839 soldiers over alleged
involvement, amid concerns over the extent of the retribution.
Turks woke
up early Saturday to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers
surrendering after the failed coup, some with their hands above their head,
others forced to the ground in the streets.
"The
situation is completely under control," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim
said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey's top general who had
himself been taken hostage by the plotters.
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Turkey coup
attempt (AFP Photo/Sophie HUET-TRUPHEME, John SAEKI)
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Describing
the attempted coup as a "black stain" on Turkey's democracy, Yildirim
said 161 people had been killed in the night of violence and 1,440 wounded.
General
Umit Dundar, who stood in as acting chief of staff while Hulusi Akar was being
held by the rebels, said 104 coup plotters has been killed. Akar was later
rescued in an operation that marked the end of the plotters' hopes.
During a
night where power hung in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters
of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) defied the coup
leaders' orders of a curfew and flooded the streets to block the attempt to
overthrow the regime.
"We
should keep on owning the streets tonight no matter at what stage (the coup
attempt is) because a new flare-up could take place at any moment,"
Erdogan warned on Twitter on Saturday.
'People
are afraid'
Friday's
putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara,
soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and multiple explosions throughout the
night in the capital as well as the biggest city Istanbul.
Parts of
parliament were turned to rubble after being hit by air strikes from rebel
jets.
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Supporters
of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest in Istanbul’s
Taksim
square, early Saturday, July 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Rebel
troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in
Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.
Turks have
not seen such scenes since 1980 when the military led by general Kenan Evren
ousted the government and many had no desire to revive these memories.
As
protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on
people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.
Soldiers
also shot at protesters angrily denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul's iconic
Taksim Square, injuring several.
There was
chaos in the city as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with much smaller
numbers welcoming the troops.
US
President Barack Obama stressed the "vital need" for all parties to
"act within the rule of law" as Turkey rounded up the coup plotters.
While
condemning the coup bid, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the plotters had
to be dealt with "under the rule of law".
Turkey's
General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army, has been detained while
Alparslan Altan, one of 17 judges on the constitutional court, was taken into
custody.
Judicial
authorities said 2,745 judges would also be sacked in the wake of the coup bid.
"Brothers,
I must say that this is now being cleaned up," said Erdogan said in his
speech in the district of Kizikli on the Asian side of Istanbul.
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People
apprehend a Turkish soldier, third right in blue, that participated in the
attempted coup, on Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (AP
Photo/Selcuk Samiloglu)
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'Treason
and rebellion'
The
president's critics have long accused him of undermining modern Turkey's secular
roots and of sliding into authoritarianism -- but he was believed to have won
control of the military after purging elements who opposed him.
Turkey's
once-powerful military has long considered itself the guardian of the secular
state founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1923.
It has
staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.
Erdogan
immediately pinned the blame on "the parallel state" and
"Pennsylvania" -- a reference to Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has
always accused of seeking to overthrow him.
"The
United States -- you must extradite that person," he said to cheers from
the supporters.
But the
president's former ally "categorically" denied any involvement in the
plot, calling the accusation "insulting".
Yildirim
took aim at the United States for hosting what he called "the leader of a
terrorist organisation."
Speaking in
Luxembourg, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Turkey to hand over any
evidence it had against Gulen.
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A man kicks
a Turkish soldier that participated in the attempted coup, on
Istanbul's
Bosporus Bridge, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Selcuk Samiloglu)
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Meanwhile,
Turkey demanded the extradition of eight people thought to have been involved
in the putsch who landed in a Black Hawk military helicopter in Greece.
And
Istanbul authorities sought to get life back to normal with the bridges
reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport -- shut down by the
plotters -- gradually reopening.
But the US
government said it has suspended all flights to Turkey, and banned all airlines
from flying to the United States from Turkey due to uncertainty after the coup
bid.
Turkish
authorities also imposed a security lockdown at the Incirlik air base in the
southern province of Adana used by US and other coalition forces in the fight
against jihadists in Syria, the US consulate said.
The US
military command in Europe has ordered American forces across Turkey to take
maximum protective measures.
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