Turkey Coup fails, nearly 3000 arrested as PM Binali Yildirim says ‘it’s over’
Some 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested after an attempted coup that is now over, says Turkey’s PM Binali Yildirim. The Prime Minister added that the a “black stain on Turkish democracy.”
The incident left 161 civilians killed and 1,440 wounded as explosions and gun fire rang out in key on Friday night and thousands heeded a call by President Erdogan to rise up against the coup-plotters.
Those arrested include two army generals, Turkish media say, but no clear leader has been heralded.
Erdogan has blamed a “parallel structure,” a reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful US-based Muslim cleric whom he accuses of fomenting unrest.
In a televised speech on Saturday night, he called on the US to extradite Gulen.
Gulen has rejected any suggestion of links to what happened, saying he condemned “in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey”.
The authorities also said 104 suspected coup-plotters had also been killed.
Some 2,745 Turkish judges have also been dismissed in the wake of the coup, state media say.
They are reported to include a member of the country’s top court.
Turkey is deeply divided over President Erdogan’s project to transform the country and because of the contagion of violence from the war in Syria.
President Erdogan and his AK Party have rejected modern Turkey’s secular heritage, described by his critics as an Islamist, increasingly authoritarian and is trying to turn himself into a strong executive president.
Erdogan’s government has been deeply involved in the war in Syria, backing Islamist opposition to President Assad.
Violence has spread across the border, helping to reignite the fight with the Kurdish PKK, making Turkey a target for Islamic State.
Turkey has faced increasing turmoil and the attempt to overthrow President Erdogan will likely not be the last of it.
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