Turkish Politics

The Plot against the Generals: Dani Rodrik's reflections on playing sleuth for several years to clear his father-in-law's name. The charges? An attempted coup against the Turkish government in 2003, the trials for which helped catapult Erdogan into power. As even Erdogan and his supporters admit, the trials were a sham.

edited 19th Oct '15 11:12:43 AM by SabresEdge

This paper sums up what happened in Turkish politics in the last decade perfectly. A must-read for anyone who wants to have an idea about how Erdoğan suddenly (!) turned into a dictator when he was the shining beacon of Islamic moderation.

With his background I'm surprised that people are actually surprised.

Bridges in Istanbul blocked.

BBC is reporting possible gunshots in the capital as well as military aircraft over head.

Do we have a coup in progress?

That's what it's looking like. The Turkish government is currently downplaying the severity of the situation, but that's to be expected. It'll probably be at least a few hours before we know what's really going on.

The Turkish PM denounced the acts as illegal.

Things are going to get quite complicated.

edited 15th Jul '16 1:21:02 PM by Rationalinsanity

I hope this is one of the "good" variety of military coups that Turkey has periodically.

They're denying that it's a coup but admitting that military actions is being taken outside the chain of command.

So I heard that a coup was going on. Against Erdogan? Resecularization?

The news outlets on my end report a failed military coup in both Istanbul and Ankara. Confirmation?

Not clear yet.

Ugh. A coup would be bad. Under Erdogan? A failed coup would be worse.

Erdogan isn't even in the country atm. So he is going to get away either way.

Oh boy.Erdogan's gonna root himself even tighter.

Yeah, but if he beats a coup, he has a clear shot at purging his enemies and instituting new restrictions on other enemies.

There's a video about of a F-16 flying on the deck over Istanbul. Looks like it's on.

Would have to wait to see if the coup has failed or not. So far they've managed to take over the state broadcaster TRT and the Turkish military has announced they've taken over. It doesn't necessarily mean they have accomplished that but it does mean they're very confident.

EDIT: Bizarrely, TRT is now showing a documentary about Azerbaijan.

edited 15th Jul '16 1:43:35 PM by MayuZane

Turkish military are saying they've taken over "for democratic order".

Seems legit.

Facebook, Twitter and You Tube have been blocked. It appears that the putsch has been initiated by lower-level military officials. This revolting army faction just made an announcement saying that 'the military is in control of the government right now'. Unconfirmed info claims that Erdogan is in Bodrum at the moment,

I'm in Komotini so I hope the situation doesn't get any uglier.

edited 15th Jul '16 2:09:23 PM by LogoP

A little bit early to call them "revolting" yet, is it?

I don't think they'll be able to bother with us much yet.Gotta establish power first.

Of course,attacking us could also net them some points soooo....better see how those loans spent well worked out,right?

If it is lower ranking officers, what the chances that the Generals will jump in? If only to avoid the coup failing and getting fired/jailed/shot by the Sultan for failing to control the Janissaries?

That's probably the Plan. The Coup wouldn't have been launched without the approval of the "Deep State".