Turkey stays on alert as thousands held following failed coup attempt
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WARPLANES patrolled Turkey’s skies overnight in a sign that authorities feared the threat against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government is not yet over, despite official assurances that life has returned to normal after a failed coup.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said Erdogan ordered the overnight patrol by F-16s “for the control of the airspace and security” after a faction within the military launched the attempted coup late Friday.
The rebellion, which saw warplanes firing on key government installations and tanks rolling into major cities, was quashed by loyal government forces and masses of civilians who took to the streets. The country’s top military brass did not support the coup.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said yesterday that a total of 232 people — 208 government supporters he called “martyrs” and 24 coup plotters — died in the unrest. Government and military officials earlier put the total number of dead at 294, including 104 involved in the coup. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear. More than 1,500 people were wounded.
Yildirim’s voice cracked and he wept as he spoke with reporters after a Cabinet meeting and repeated a question his grandson had put to him: “Why are they killing people?”
He said he had no answer, but that Turkey would make the coup plotters answer “in such a way that the whole world will see.”
He said a total of 7,543 people had been detained since Friday, including 6,030 military personnel.
Turkish prosecutors yesterday began questioning 27 generals and admirals. Anadolu reported the group includes former Air Force commander General Akin Ozturk, who has been described as the ringleader of the foiled uprising. Ozturk, who remained on active duty, has denied he was involved and insisted he worked to quell the uprising in statements to Turkish media.
On Sunday, Yildirim said the coup had failed and life had returned to normal, but he and other officials also urged people to take to streets at night, saying risks remained.
At nightfall, thousands of flag-waving people rallied in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, Ankara’s Kizilay Square and elsewhere.
The government moved swiftly in the wake of the coup to shore up its power and remove those perceived as enemies.
Also yesterday, security forces continued raiding military facilities in search of suspected plotters. They searched the Air Force Academy premises and residences in Istanbul, Anadolu reported. It was not clear if any arrests were made.
The crackdown targeted not only generals and soldiers, but a wide swath of the judiciary that has sometimes blocked Erdogan.
The failed coup and the subsequent crackdown followed moves by Erdogan to reshape both the military and the judiciary. He had indicated a shake-up of the military was imminent and had also taken steps to increase his influence over the judiciary.
Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus defended the crackdown on judiciary officials in an interview with CNN-Turk, saying many of them would have played a role had the coup attempt succeeded.
“All of these did not necessarily have first-degree knowledge about this pro-junta initiative. Had they succeeded it is clear that these people would have been included into this business. Therefore, anyone connected to this group will be exposed.” Yildirim said those involved with the failed coup “will receive every punishment they deserve.”
Erdogan suggested Turkey might reinstate capital punishment. It was abolished in 2004 as part of the country’s bid to join the European Union.
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