On July 15th, 2016, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on local television that the military was attempting a coup in Ankara and Istanbul. He criticized the coup forces, saying they were part of the Turkish military and that they would pay the strongest price. A fighter jet was spotted flying low in Ankara. Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, was closed by the military. Also, tanks and coup troops were reported in front of Istanbul’s Ataturk International Airport. The coup d’etat soldiers took Army General Hulusi Akar hostage and issued a statement on the Turkish military’s official website saying, “we have taken all the state power in our country.” At 12 p.m, coup d’etat soldiers, who identified themselves as the Yurtta Sulh Konseyi, seized Turkey’s state-run television station and forced Terete’s announcer to read their own manifesto. In the statement, the Yurtta Sulh Konsei said Turkey had complete control of all state power to correct constitutional order.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and government organizations ignored the basic human rights and freedoms of the people and Turkey was under the threat of a dictator. It also underlined that it would ensure freedom of expression, property rights, basic human rights, and security for all citizens. With the release of the statement, the Peace committee imposed a curfew across Turkey. Later, the broadcast was cut off. In Ankara, after 10 p.m., huge fighter jets, gunfire, and even bombs continued until the coup was suppressed at dawn. Even after the president arrived in Istanbul, the coup d’etat forces attacked and fighting between the coup d’etat and government forces continued. However, the coup d’etat soldiers were no longer able to attack in front of government forces. Eventually, the military’s coup attempt was suppressed in six hours and the incident was a failure.
By. Hanseul Chang
Works Cited
“[터키] 터키 군부의 쿠데타 시도 사건.” 네이버 블로그 | 모파랑, https://m.blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?isHttpsRedirect=true&blogId=mofakr&logN o=220778429361.
“Turkey’s Coup Attempt: What You Need to Know.” BBC News, BBC, 17 July 2016, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36816045.
뉴스 Sbs. “터키 군부 쿠데타 실패…에르도안 대통령 복귀·60여 명 사망.” SBS NEWS, SBS 뉴스, 16 July 2016, https://news.sbs.co.kr/news/endPage.do?news_id=N1003682717.