Over 190 Killed In Attempted Turkish Coup

July 16th, 2016

Awake Goy

Over 190 Killed In Attempted Turkish Coup

The Turkish government claims that it has regained control and arrested mutinous soldiers.

Loyalists say that they have arrested 1,563 soldiers and officers who were implicated in Friday nights attempted military coup.

At least 190 people were reportedly killed, including 104 pro-coup participants and 1,154 people were injured during action in Istanbul and Ankara.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who flew home early Saturday, said that coup supporters “will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey.”

The government is considering bringing back the death penalty so it can execute those involved in the attempted coup against the President.

RT reports:

Pro-government forces have seized control of the top military HQ building, but there are still some groups of rebels resisting, a Turkish official said on Saturday, as cited by Reuters.

General Hulusi Akar, who heads Turkey’s armed forces, has been rescued from rebel captivity. He was the most senior military official in their hands.

The rebels reportedly have several helicopter gunships in their disposal, but loyalists have threatened to shoot them down as they downed at least one aircraft carrying out attacks on government buildings.

A faction of the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the government on Friday night, employing tanks and attack helicopters. The conspiracy appears to have failed, however, as they didn’t manage to capture any senior government officials and couldn’t win wide support from the Turkish military.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his civilian supporters to take to the streets of Istanbul, which they did. Rebel soldiers, who called on the population to stay indoors, apparently didn’t have the resolve to launch a full-scale war against civilians in Turkey’s biggest city.

The coup attempt began on Friday night when warplanes and helicopters buzzed over Ankara and rebel troops moved in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait.

Tanks attacked several government buildings, including the Turkish parliament, as lawmakers hid in shelters inside the building.

Several airports were shut down and access to social media was blocked in the first hours of turmoil.

The TRT state television and the Turkish branch of CNN were seized and ceased broadcasting.

The tide turned early on Saturday as rebels lost momentum and failed to win support.

Government officials accused Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States, of instigating the plot. Gulen used to be an ally of Erdogan, but turned into his fierce opponent.