# Attempted Coup in Turkey
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 15, 2016, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001 "2016-07-15T20:27:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/121 "2016-07-16T00:53:04Z")
> [@jtur88](#):
>
> SDMB, still first with the news. Turkey not yet appearing on the Yahoo or Reuters sites, and the second story (after Nice followup) on AP.
Considering the Guardian story is linked in the OP and the BBC is giving this extensive coverage, I don’t think the SDMB can quite claim to be at the cutting edge of front-line journalism just yet, I’m afraid… 😛
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### Author:  [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/122 "2016-07-16T00:56:28Z")
CNN Türk is broadcasting a feed of an empty news room. CNN reported that pro-coup soldiers were in the building and they were being taken off the air.
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### Author:  [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/123 "2016-07-16T01:04:08Z")
The Arab edition of Huffpo is calling the coup a failure and says that a leader of the coup has been arrested.
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/124 "2016-07-16T01:20:06Z")
this just popped up on msn … [MSN](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/turkish-media-bomb-hits-parliament-building-in-ankara/ar-BBunKQT?li=BBnb7Kz)
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/125 "2016-07-16T01:22:06Z")
ABC News says that Turkey has the second largest military in NATO, after the US.
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/126 "2016-07-16T01:24:58Z")
[http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/turkish-media-bomb-hits-parliament-building-in-ankara/ar-BBunKQT?li=BBnb7Kz](http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/turkish-media-bomb-hits-parliament-building-in-ankara/ar-BBunKQT?li=BBnb7Kz)
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### Author:  [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/127 "2016-07-16T01:45:08Z")
> [@levdrakon](#):
>
> Here’s a BBC article about Erdogan:
>
> [Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Turkey’s ruthless president](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13746679)
>
> The guy is trying to grab power and “democratically” turn Turkey into a fundamentalist Islamist theocracy.
And what if that’s what the majority of the populace wants?
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/128 "2016-07-16T02:50:06Z")
It’s looking right now like the majority of the Turkish people want the military to back off. Good for them.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/129 "2016-07-16T03:11:30Z")
I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while and this seems like a good time. How did Erdogan get to power and why is he popular? Turkey has a strong secular tradition in the past, why are they supporting a leader that wants to change that? Assuming he survives this coup, Is Erdogan’s plan to keep alternating between Prime Minister and President like Putin does? Is there no term limits in Turkey that prevent that?
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### Author:  [@Salvor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salvor)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/130 "2016-07-16T03:50:26Z")
Saw this tweet from a kurdish guy monitoring the situation
Gilgo
@agirecudi
Erdogan says this attempt is a gift from God… Because it gives him opportunity to cleanse the Army. He says that live.
… If this coup fails, and it looks like it will, Erdogan will have all the excuse he needs to purge the military of any autonomy. Normally that is a good thing bringing a military under the heel of the civilian authorities, but they were the last untainted power base for the preservation of some semblance of secular governance. And now those guardians look to be fallen. Islamism will descend upon Turkey.
Another writer talks about liberals like me here:
>
Probably many “liberals” (and maybe some in DC) who are cheering this on b/c their hatred of Islamists takes precedence over democracy.
Yes, Shadi, I actually do hate Islamists even more than anti democratic rule, because I see them as the enemies of secular civilization, of modern civilization itself. The kind of “democracy” one will get under that Islamized power base will be hell on earth in my view.
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### Author:  [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/131 "2016-07-16T04:09:23Z")
Looks like the soldiers in Istanbul have surrendered. Erdogan looks to have survived this attempt.
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/132 "2016-07-16T04:16:06Z")
I’m seeing [a report on the AP that a cleric who lives in Pennsylvania named Fethullah Gulen is being blamed for the coup by the Turkish government.
> [@](#):
>
> A lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said that “there are indications of direct involvement” in the coup attempt by Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania. He said he and his firm “have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed” by Gulen and his movement. According to Turkish intelligence sources, he said, “there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government.”
>
> The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges. Y. Alp Aslandogan told The Associated Press “we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible.” Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, “we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey.”
]([http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AP\_EXPLAINS\_TURKEY\_MUSLIM\_CLERIC?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-15-22-59-53](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AP_EXPLAINS_TURKEY_MUSLIM_CLERIC?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-15-22-59-53))
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/133 "2016-07-16T04:37:50Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while and this seems like a good time. How did Erdogan get to power and why is he popular? Turkey has a strong secular tradition in the past, why are they supporting a leader that wants to change that? Assuming he survives this coup, Is Erdogan’s plan to keep alternating between Prime Minister and President like Putin does? Is there no term limits in Turkey that prevent that?
Turkey has as strong secular tradition because the military has stepped in when the democratically elected government became too Islamic. There is a good amount of the population who would like a more Islamic state.
And Erdogan’s plan appears to consolidate more and more power in the President.
Let’s also not forget that Erdogan is probably supporting ISIS as well (or at the very least refusing the fight against them while selling them arms). It makes this a very difficult conflict to pick a side.
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### Author:  [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/134 "2016-07-16T04:39:38Z")
I’m probably just paranoid but this was all over so quickly I wonder about a false-flag operation.
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### Author:  [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/135 "2016-07-16T04:42:11Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while and this seems like a good time. How did Erdogan get to power and why is he popular? Turkey has a strong secular tradition in the past, why are they supporting a leader that wants to change that? Assuming he survives this coup, Is Erdogan’s plan to keep alternating between Prime Minister and President like Putin does? Is there no term limits in Turkey that prevent that?
Erdogan came to power in the early 2000’s by downplaying his Islamist tendencies and getting some of the more liberal parts of society on board by vowing to fight government corruption. Over time he has gradually weakened the tradition of maintaining a secular society and given Islamists more say over things. In the last few years he has become much more authoritarian and intolerant of dissent. Erdogan is also suspected of giving aid to ISIL early on, although that appears to have changed recently. He is currently trying to get more power vested in the office of President, presumably to concentrate power in his hands.
Erdogan’s main enemy at this point is Fetullah Gulen, a somewhat liberal imam. They were allies until a few years ago when some of the investigations into government corruption got a little to close to Erdogan and some of his associates. Gulen had a lot of influence over the police and judiciary that were involved in these investigations and they had a falling out. Gulen has lived in self imposed exile in Pennsylvania since then.
Assuming this coup fails I would expect Erdogan to clamp down hard on free speech, the media and anyone he sees as a threat to him getting greater control. He is already saying this coup was planned by Gulen. I would also think Erdogan will move Turkey in a much more Islamist direction.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/136 "2016-07-16T05:42:46Z")
> [@Rysto](#):
>
> I’m probably just paranoid but this was all over so quickly I wonder about a false-flag operation.
That also occurred to me, Erdogan has the perfect excuse he needs to round up all his opponents now, squash the media and change the constitution. I feel sorry for the people of Turkey.
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### Author:  [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/137 "2016-07-16T05:45:54Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> > [@Rysto](#):
> >
> > I’m probably just paranoid but this was all over so quickly I wonder about a false-flag operation.
>
> That also occurred to me, Erdogan has the perfect excuse he needs to round up all his opponents now, squash the media and change the constitution. I feel sorry for the people of Turkey.
Yep. And Gulen makes a very convenient scapegoat. And if the US is unwilling to extradite him it also gives Erdogan a reason to cool the relationship with NATO. Incirlik is a major staging point for attacks against ISIS/ISIL.
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### Author:  [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/138 "2016-07-16T05:48:37Z")
At the risk of sounding too political for this forum, I’ll agree that it sure does look like everything’s going to come up suspiciously rosey for Erdogan.
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### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/139 "2016-07-16T06:35:57Z")
Hundreds dead and wounded possible split in the country. If he wanted to set it up, a simple arrest and false documents would have accomplished that and everything without the above complications.
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2016, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-coup-in-turkey/760001/140 "2016-07-16T09:55:59Z")
> [@lisiate](#):
>
> Looks like the soldiers in Istanbul have surrendered. Erdogan looks to have survived this attempt.
And despite the coup faction having murdered police and unarmed civilian demonstrators, Istanbul police protected surrendered soldiers from angry crowds. Again, good for them.
Gulen disavowed and condemned the coup, before news reports were clear it would fail.
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