A Turkish F-16 fighter jet has reportedly shot down a military helicopter used by the pro-coup faction of the Turkish army, local broadcaster NTV reported, as reports suggested the capital of Ankara descended into chaotic clashes involving civilians and military.FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES

A military helicopter was spotted opening fire above Ankara, Reuters reports, citing witnesses. Other reports claim that a loud explosion occurred at the headquarters of state broadcaster TRT.

read more: https://www.rt.com/news/336092-erdogan-against-democracy-freedom/

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-16/live-blog-attempted-military-coup-underway-in-turkey/7634654

 

Question: is this "coup" a false flag event (a pretend coup — badly organised) designed to catalyse more support for Erdogan and "clean up his military", bolstering the hard-line religious elements within? 

This would not be the first time that such political deceitful theatre happened...

 

Turkish Minister Blames US Authorities for Organizing Coup Attempt
A Turkish minister accused the US authorities of organizing a military coup attempt in Turkey, Haberturk TV reported.

Turkish Labor Minister Süleyman Soylu claimed that Washington is behind the attempted coup in Turkey.

"The US is behind the coup attempt. A few journals that are published there [in the US] have been conducting activities for several months. For many months we have sent requests to the US concerning Fethullah Gulen. The US must extradite him," he said.

BREAKING: Turkish Minister @suleymansoylu announces that #US is behind coup attempt on Haberturk TV — @140journos pic.twitter.com/AnoCW2ecB9

— Conflict News (@Conflicts) 16 июля 2016 г.

#Turkish minister @suleymansoylu adds: "Behind the terror in [Turkey's] southeast, & troubles in #Syria & #Iraq is USA's ambitions & plans."

— Aykan Erdemir (@aykan_erdemir) 16 июля 2016 г.

US-Turkey Cooperation Within NATO, Anti-Daesh Coalition Unchanged After Coup Attempt - Kerry

Late on Friday, Turkish authorities said that an attempted coup took place in the country. Erdogan urged Turkish citizens to take to streets, stating that the coup attempt was carried out by a small group within the military. Later, Erdogan and other officials have blamed opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen staying in self-imposed exile in the United States and his supporters for the coup attempt. Gulen himself denied the allegations.
The coup attempt was reportedly suppressed by early Saturday, with Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim stating that all coup supporters have been detained and the country is returning to normal life. Over 180 were killed and 1,470 were injured during the events, while nearly 3,000 people have been detained, according to the prime minister.

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The "coup" appears to have been badly organised. This does not make sense. According to some sources about 5 generals were involved. One would expect a better success with such top brass and a few well-trained troops — with a bit more conviction. But overall, I suspect that despite the death of about 190 people and 2000 injured. the "coup" was designed to reinforce the grip on power by Erdogan. For such a coup to be successful, rather than go in the street "aimlessly with tanks", they would have had to assassinate Erdogan first. Second, it is most likely that the Erdogan government knew of the imminent coup, or even "organised it" by helping dissent foment in the army, in order to "clean it up" as it was Erdogan initial reaction.

Prepare for more tightening of the screws on journalists and prepare for more extreme religious radicalisation of Turkey ...

 

The United States-drafted statement to the UN Security Council, which has been seen by Reuters news agency, expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.

Statements by the 15-member Security Council have to be agreed by consensus.

"We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage," Egypt's UN Ambassador Amr Aboulatta told Reuters.

Diplomats said Egypt asked for a call for all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey" to be removed from the draft statement, saying the council was "in no position to qualify, or label that government — or any other government for that matter — as democratically elected or not".

 

After the US and Britain objected to the proposed change to the text, Egypt proposed that the council call on the parties in Turkey to "respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law", diplomats said.

Negotiations on the text ended at this point, diplomats said.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it was "surprised that its proposed amendment was not taken up, and with the claim that it is obstructing the release of the statement".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a former general who overthrew elected president Mohamed Morsi, of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 after mass protests against Mr Morsi.

Turkey provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-17/egypt-blocks-un-statement-on-turke...

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The preacher who has been accused by the Turkish government of trying to seize power in a military coup has hit back, appearing to accuse President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of conducting a deadly false flag operation, and comparing him to Hitler.Trends

“There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup, by Mr Erdogan’s AKP Party, and it could be meant for further accusations, against the Gulenists and the military,” Fathullah Gulen, who is in exile in Pennsylvania, told the media Saturday.

 

 

Hours earlier, Erdogan – who has habitually accused Gulen, and his popular Hizmet movement, of trying to overthrow him, ever since the two former allies fell out in 2013 – called on the US to extradite Gulen.

 

 

Gulen, who holds a US Green Card but is not an American citizen, said he was “unconcerned” by the prospect of deportation. The cleric has been living in Pennsylvania in what is said to be a self-imposed exile.

“I don’t believe that the world takes the accusations made by President Erdogan against me seriously,” said the 75-year-old, before condemning the use of violence to depose Erdogan.

At least 265 people were killed after an abortive attempt to seize power in Turkey by a large group of army officers on Friday night. Over 2,800 army personnel have been arrested, and 2,700 relieved of their duties.

Gulen said that reprisals likely await those alleged to have plotted the coup, comparing Erdogan’s tactics to those used by Adolf Hitler to clear the political field in Germany in the 1930s, which turned it into a police state.

https://www.rt.com/news/351656-gulen-erdogan-staged-coup-claims/

 

 

Gus isn't the only one (but might have been the first) on this slippery slope (pay-back...)... Read my comment from top.

 

There is 90 per cent chances that the "coup" was orchestrated by Edorgan himself. Or at least, knew about it and let it run for one night until his loyals troops could kill it off. They were well prepared unlike the coup people. One should smell a rat.

 

Furthermore, as "Hitler" Erdogan apportions blame on this and that, one can read this is a well practised tactic to make populist statements and deflect the truth away. Here we have an article about Kerry blasting Erdogan to suggest that the US had something to do with it, (though it would not be the first time as the US did in Ukraine):

 

The United States expressed concern that their longtime NATO ally and critical regional partner believed that Washington would try to overthrow their government calling the claims "harmful to bilateral relations."

US Secretary of State John Kerry told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu on Saturday that public claims suggesting that American officials masterminded the failed coup attempt in Turkey were categorically false and were harmful to relations between the two longtime NATO allies.

http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160717/1043140902/Kerry-erdogan-soylu-ankara-coup.html

 

99.9 per cent chances that Erdogan knew the plot was on and was well prepared to deal with it — in advance.

90 per cent chances that Erdogan organised (via spurring dissent in the arm forces) the "coup" and thereafter blamed "others".

...

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed a crackdown on the military and also the judiciary and has blamed the coup on arch foe Fethullah Gulen, who resides in exile in Pennsylvania. Analysts believe that defeating the coup has greatly increased Erdogan’s authority and he will be able to consolidate his power by altering the country’s constitution, which, given the sense of crisis in Turkey due to the coup and the recent terrorist attack in Istanbul, is likely to succeed. And due process for the alleged coup plotters under the present circumstances is likely to be limited. They reportedly will be charged with treason. Erdogan will be able to clean house and consolidate his power.

There is inevitably a counter narrative which I and a number of Turkey-watchers who have networked to discuss recent developments are inclined to believe. As full disclosure, I will admit that all of us are established critics of the autocratic and Islamist direction being pursued by Erdogan’s government over the past three years.

First of all, though it is not a major issue, none of us believes that Gulen was behind the coup. It is convenient for Erdogan to blame his principal opponent because it will facilitate the arrests of any and all opponents not linked to the actual coup by claiming that they are Gulenists. Erdogan has become adept at jailing opponents, often journalists, on trumped up charges to include treason and this time around will be no different. The process has already begun with the detention of a number of military officers and judges and will no doubt be expanded as more enemies are identified.

Second, nearly all of us believe that the coup was basically a set-up. Erdogan and his government have been warning for months about the possibility of a coup, so the event itself should surprise no one. It is now certain that there was a coup in fact being plotted, apparently supported mostly by Kemalists in the military who advocate a secular state and are alarmed by aspects of Erdogan’s foreign policy, including his collaboration with terrorist groups and hostility towards Russia and Syria. There was also likely an element of concern over the deteriorating Turkish economy with European fear of terrorism wrecking the tourism industry, an issue linked to Ankara’s meddling in Syria and Erdogan’s personal vendetta against the leading Kurdish political party the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Many observers and even government officials when speaking off the record have also criticized the Erdogan-driven breakdown in the truce that up until recently prevailed with the domestic Kurdish minority and its armed wing the PKK.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/a-very-predictable-coup/

 

WikiLeaks reported suffering a “sustained attack” after it announced the upcoming release of hundreds of thousands of documents relating to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the wake of a failed military coup.

“Our infrastructure is under sustained attack,” WikiLeaks said on Twitter. “We are unsure of the true origin of the attack. The timing suggests a Turkish state power faction or its allies.”
read more: https://www.rt.com/news/351995-wikileaks-attack-turkey-documents/


@wikileaks we allready know who is behind the failed coup. And WE KNOW for a 
fact who was behind the one in Egypt. Hint it starts with (C).

 

The Turkish higher board of education has prohibited all academics from traveling abroad, according to local broadcaster TRT.
The ban is a temporary measure to prevent alleged coup plotters in universities from escaping, according to a Turkish government official, cited by Reuters. Some people at the universities were communicating with military cells, the official claimed.

Four university rectors have also been suspended as part of the crackdown, according to broadcaster NTV.

FLAŞ! YÖK'ten tüm akademisyenlere yasak! https://t.co/4HISVqBMq2pic.twitter.com/OCwTGj7H69

— Aksam.com.tr (@Aksam) July 20, 2016

It comes shortly after the government ordered the resignation of all university deans – namely, 1,577 people.

Also, the authorities canceled the licenses of 21,000 private-school teachers, bringing the total number of dismissed professionals to almost 60,000, according to Bloomberg estimates.

READ MORE: ‘Clear attack on academic freedom’ – professor behind Turkish crackdown petition (RT INTERVIEW)

Academics around the world have expressed their outrage at the situation, too. Fiona de Londras, professor of Global Legal Studies at the University of Birmingham, has launched an online petition to support academic freedom in Turkey.

The Anonymous hacktivist group has also condemned the crackdown on education and media, urging to pay attention to the upcoming publications on the WikiLeaks whistleblowing website. On Wednesday, access to WikiLeaks was blocked in Turkey after a cache of some 300,000 government emails went online.

read more: https://www.rt.com/news/352218-turkey-academics-ban-travel/