"The Turkish President has confirmed that he had been in Marmaris as the coup unfolded. Erdogan said that his hotel there was bombed right after he left. "
Can't really tell, but i think they had the backside of body ripped off.
If it's the same dude...when the military gave up and were walking off the bridge a group of pro govt jihadis assaulted them, grabbed the soldier and hacked his head off on the bridge.
The Turkish government has indirectly criticized its NATO ally, the US, for providing a safe haven for Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for masterminding Friday’s military coup attempt. The cleric is currently living in self-imposed exile in the States.
“I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang, especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters on Saturday, as Turkey was recovering from overnight violence.
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Commenting on Turkey’s hostility towards the 75-year-old preacher, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Ankara hadn’t requested the cleric’s extradition. The US official said that Washington will be "completely supportive of efforts to assist the government of Turkey," but insisted that any decision on Gulen will be taken on the basis of legal, and not political considerations. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen, and obviously we invite the government of Turkey to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments appropriately and I am confident there will be some discussion about that," Kerry told reporters during his trip to Luxembourg.
Gülen, a cleric, was a political ally of Tayyip Erdogan when he was Turkey’s Prime Minister, but the two fell out and became bitter rivals. Ankara accuses Gülen of creating a “parallel state” in the form of a network of supporters among Turkish officials. Erdogan accused Gülen of masterminding a corruption scandal involving senior government figures in 2013, and launched a crackdown against his organization.
A faction of the Turkish military attempted to topple the government overnight, but failed in its bid. The attempted power grab involved tanks and helicopters, as government buildings were attacked and violent clashes erupted between government loyalists and rebels in Istanbul and Ankara.
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The hostilities left over 260 people killed and many others injured. The government has responded to the coup by initiating a massive purge in the military.
Binoy Kampmark of the RMIT University told RT that while willful and erratic Erdogan has been increasingly unpopular in the White House, the coup put the US in a tight spot. "The US doesn't want an overly belligerent Turkish government, but, by the same token they don't want an unstable one. Turkey, with the largest standing army in NATO, is definitely a source of concern," he said via an online uplink. "If the coup had been successful, the US would have protested, but they can deal with the Turkish military, probably better than with Erdogan. They could deal with him before, but with his crackdown on democracy, and the Kurds, who are fighting ISIS, he has become an embarrassment, and after the coup it will get worse," defense analyst Ivan Eland told RT
The Turkish government has indirectly criticized its NATO ally, the US, for providing a safe haven for Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara blames for masterminding Friday’s military coup attempt. The cleric is currently living in self-imposed exile in the States.
“I do not see any country that would stand behind this man, this leader of the terrorist gang, especially after last night. The country that would stand behind this man is no friend to Turkey. It would even be a hostile act against Turkey,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım told reporters on Saturday, as Turkey was recovering from overnight violence.
Read more
Commenting on Turkey’s hostility towards the 75-year-old preacher, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Ankara hadn’t requested the cleric’s extradition. The US official said that Washington will be "completely supportive of efforts to assist the government of Turkey," but insisted that any decision on Gulen will be taken on the basis of legal, and not political considerations. "We fully anticipate that there will be questions raised about Mr Gulen, and obviously we invite the government of Turkey to present us with any legitimate evidence that withstands scrutiny and the United States will accept that and look at it and make judgments appropriately and I am confident there will be some discussion about that," Kerry told reporters during his trip to Luxembourg.
Gülen, a cleric, was a political ally of Tayyip Erdogan when he was Turkey’s Prime Minister, but the two fell out and became bitter rivals. Ankara accuses Gülen of creating a “parallel state” in the form of a network of supporters among Turkish officials. Erdogan accused Gülen of masterminding a corruption scandal involving senior government figures in 2013, and launched a crackdown against his organization.
A faction of the Turkish military attempted to topple the government overnight, but failed in its bid. The attempted power grab involved tanks and helicopters, as government buildings were attacked and violent clashes erupted between government loyalists and rebels in Istanbul and Ankara.
Read more
The hostilities left over 260 people killed and many others injured. The government has responded to the coup by initiating a massive purge in the military.
Binoy Kampmark of the RMIT University told RT that while willful and erratic Erdogan has been increasingly unpopular in the White House, the coup put the US in a tight spot. "The US doesn't want an overly belligerent Turkish government, but, by the same token they don't want an unstable one. Turkey, with the largest standing army in NATO, is definitely a source of concern," he said via an online uplink. "If the coup had been successful, the US would have protested, but they can deal with the Turkish military, probably better than with Erdogan. They could deal with him before, but with his crackdown on democracy, and the Kurds, who are fighting ISIS, he has become an embarrassment, and after the coup it will get worse," defense analyst Ivan Eland told RT
the world almost had some good news instead it is even worse now.
Did you see all those people attacking the tanks,that government had a lot of public support. Funny I was watching some vids on Youtube,and most of the Pro government posters were Algerian. Explain that one.
Former CIA Officials Give Turkish Coup Plotters Advice On CNN
“I have been involved in coups before,” a former CIA officer said.
<figure class="content-list-component image"> CNN
<figcaption style="width: 630px;" class="image__caption js-image-caption"> Former CIA case officer Robert Baer, seen on CNN in 2015. </figcaption> </figure>
Oh, for the good old days ― when the CIA regularly assisted military coups d’états in foreign democracies.
Several former spooks appearing on CNN Friday night to discuss the attempted military coup in Turkey had more than a few pointers for the seemingly amateurish military officers leading the takeover efforts. And at least one contributor seemed more disappointed in their performance than relieved that the coup has thus far failed to topple a democratically elected government.
Leading the pack was Robert Baer, a veteran former CIA officer and author ― and, apparently, a former coup participant.
Baer told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that the Turkish coup was “not professionally done.”
“I have been involved in coups before,” he said. “They should have taken CNN Turk and closed it down the first minutes, the radio station, social media, the internet. Even if they didn’t arrest [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, they should have taken care of all of that right at the beginning.”
Baer also revealed that he had discussed the possibility of a coup with Turkish military officers in the past few months.
“I’ve been speculating with Turkish officers a couple months ago about a coup and they said, ‘Absolutely not,’” he said. “And clearly they’re not involved, so there’s limited support for this.”
Baer went on to acknowledge that the prospects of the coup’s success were bleak, but he argued that it could still prevail.
“If the Turkish army, these elements, want to go to war with the people, it would mean civil war,” Baer concluded. “And right now, it doesn’t look like it, but you know tomorrow is another day. And certainly people in the Turkish military aren’t certain ― or the government.”
James Woolsey, a former director of the CIA who has advocated for the hanging of National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, offered his analysis of the Turkish coup on CNN earlier in the evening, arguing that it was a tactical failure.
“With coups, as with military operations, the plans never survive the first part of the operation,” Woolsey said. “You have to be flexible enough to change your tactics as you’re going through. And it doesn’t sound like these coup plotters had that kind of flexibility.”
The thing about these coups ― and we are certainly not encouraging it; we are discouraging it ― but history shows that if you are going to execute these coups, you have to really mean it. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark
Woolsey, who said he spent six months in Turkey last year, went on to imply that the coup need not change the U.S.’ close relationship with the country.
“I think there’s one thing ― this is not a happy situation and things may turn very sour ― but there is one positive aspect at least, that I’d be willing to share,” he said. “Turkey is a prosperous and progressive place with its workforce.”
“We need [Turkey] and we need to work with it and we need to have it work with us,” he concluded.
Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, a former leader of NATO’s presence in Europe, appeared on CNN in the same segment as Woolsey. (Turkey is a member of NATO.)
While Clark shared the criticism of the coup’s tactics, he was more careful to clarify that he was not supportive of military insurrections.
“The thing about these coups ― and we are certainly not encouraging it; we are discouraging it ― but history shows that if you are going to execute these coups, you have to really mean it,” Clark said.
Fighting between pro-coup army officers and the civilians and security forces supportive of the government has resulted in the deaths of at least 265 people, according to The New York Times.
By Saturday morning, the coup appeared to be in its last throes. Coup soldiers occupying major bridges in Istanbul surrendered to forces loyal to Erdogan, while the government detained thousands of troops implicated in the attempted takeover.
Erdogan returned triumphantly to Istanbul, the country’s largest city, on Saturday and his resumption of complete control of the country appears imminent.
The commentary of the former CIA officials about the Turkish coup is particularly notable because of the CIA’s long history of facilitating coups in foreign countries with an eye toward advancing U.S. geopolitical or financial interests. This was especially true during the Cold War, when the U.S. toppled numerous foreign governments around the world that it perceived to be too sympathetic to the Soviet Union.
<figure class="content-list-component image"> CNN
<figcaption style="width: 630px;" class="image__caption js-image-caption"> Former CIA director on CNN in February, 2015. </figcaption> </figure> The CIA is believed to have been at least passively complicit in a number of Turkish military coups since 1960. The U.S. military and intelligence agencies worked closely with Turkey’s national security establishment, sometimes called the “deep state” due to its hidden influence over Turkish politics, as part of the United States’ Cold War-era alliance with the country.
The U.S. has historically also been a partner in the Turkish military operations against Kurdish separatists in the southeastern part of the country ― operations that have routinely drawn criticism from human rights groups. For example, the U.S. helped Turkey find and capture Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.
Notwithstanding some of the ambivalent-sounding commentary of former CIA officers, the Obama administration has been unequivocal in its support of the democratically elected Turkish government.
“The President and Secretary [of State] agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed,” the White House said in a statement late on Friday.
Did you see all those people attacking the tanks,that government had a lot of public support. Funny I was watching some vids on Youtube,and most of the Pro government posters were Algerian. Explain that one.
yeah, there is no doubt a large portion of people there support that pos
Well it looks like there was a chance to take him out, but they just didn't have the balls to pull the trigger
"Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plane was in the crosshairs of coup plotters’ fighter jets while en route to Istanbul, Reuters reports.
The incident happened as Erdogan was heading back from a holiday resort during the recent attempted military coup.
According to a former military officer cited by Reuters, "At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan's plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul.” The officer, who reportedly has knowledge of the events, went on to say that “they locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him.”
However, the Turkish president’s plane reached its destination undamaged before dawn on Saturday. "Why they didn't fire is a mystery," the former official added.
A senior Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that the incident took place. Another official is quoted as saying that Erdogan’s plane had "trouble in the air," without providing further details.
Erdogan also reportedly said that the coup plotters had bombed places in the coastal town of Marmaris, where he had been staying, shortly after he left, as reported by Reuters. CNN Turk reported that some 25 soldiers descended from a helicopter while trying to capture the Turkish president at a Marmaris hotel. “[Erdogan] evaded death by minutes,” Reuters quotes the second senior Turkish official as saying.
The same official told Reuters that Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was also directly targeted in Istanbul during the coup attempt but managed to escape."
WikiLeaks suffers ‘sustained attack’ after announcing megaleak of Turkey govt docs
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.”
Despite the attack, the famous whistleblowing site promised to “prevail & publish” the first batch of documents on Tuesday. Earlier WikiLeaks announced that the release of documents, which could expose the Turkish “political power structure”, will contain 300,000 emails and 500,000 documents.