Turkish Coup Attempt (2016)

Date: July 15–16, 2016

Place: Turkey

Summary

The 2016 Turkish coup attempt was an effort made by a splinter group of the Turkish military to seize control of government centers in Ankara, Istanbul, and three other cities; however, they were defeated by loyalist military forces. Hundreds of people were killed in the initial attack, and more than one hundred thousand were detained or arrested between July and September.

Key Events

  • July 15, 2016—Militants attempt to oust the Turkish government, bombing the Turkish Parliament as well as the Presidential Palace and attempting to take control of several population centers with tanks and armed units.
  • July 16, 2016—Turkish police and military announce that the coup has failed and that the government has taken control of the areas captured by the militants. Government blames Fethullah Gulen for the attempted coup.
  • September 28, 2016—Government announces that thirty-two thousand of the more than one hundred thousand detained on suspicion of involvement in the coup or the Gulenist movement have been formally arrested.

Status

In October 2016, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan extended the state of emergency put into place after the coup attempt. The three-month extension when into effect on October 19. The government has maintained that cleric Fethullah Gulen was responsible for the coup, though Gulen has resided in the United States in self-exile since 1999 and has denied any connection. The United States has denied requests for Gulen’s extradition on the basis that the Turkish government has not demonstrated his involvement. According to the New York Times, more than one hundred thousand people were detained in a sweeping purge of Turkey’s military, schools, and justice system seeking to remove supporters of Gulenism from the nation’s government. The government has also closed fifteen universities that were established by Gulen’s associates and has reportedly targeted 1,100 academics who opposed the government’s treatment of Kurdish separatists in the state’s Kurdish territories. Critics around the world have accused Erdoğan of using the special powers granted to his government under constitutional provisions for national emergencies to purge society of his political and social rivals. In August, the Turkish government announced that it would release thirty-eight thousand prisoners to make room for an influx of prisoners accused of taking part in the coup, and, in late September, the government announced that thirty-two thousand of those detained had been formally arrested.

Some media outlets speculated that Erdoğan’s government had been planning a governmental purge to remove Gulen supporters and that this expected purge motivated the uprising. On October 2, it was announced that Turkish police had arrested Gulen’s brother, Kutbettin Gulen, in Western Turkey. Two of Gulen’s nephews had also been arrested in July and August. From exile, Gulen speculated that Erdoğan had orchestrated the coup himself to increase his authority.

In-Depth Overview

The Hizmet movement, also called Gulenism, is a global Islamic movement based on the teachings of Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen. Hizmet is one of the world’s most influential Islamic movements and focuses on establishing schools in underprivileged communities. From the 1980s to the 2000s, followers of Hizmet established charter schools, universities, and other educational institutions in 140 countries, including at least 120 charter schools in the United States. Gulen was an ally of Erdoğan during Erdoğan’s time as prime minister, but the two had a falling-out in 2013 when members of Gulen’s Hizmet movement were implicated in telephone surveillance leaks that resulted in accusations of corruption against Erdoğan’s office. Hizmet has been classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey since May 2016. Since his election as president in 2014, Erdoğan has been repeatedly accused of authoritarianism, including restricting free speech and media and of using the threat of terrorism to justify alleged police and military abuse of rival political groups.

On the evening of July 15, 2016, soldiers using stolen tanks blocked the two bridges over the Bosporus River in Istanbul, linking the Asian and European sides of the nation. Reports indicated that hundreds of uniformed soldiers marched into town centers in several Turkish cities and that fighter jets and helicopters were flying over the capital of Ankara. Shortly after, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim released a press statement announcing that an attempted military coup was occurring and urging citizens to remain calm. Unidentified leaders of the coup released statements through social media announcing that their intention was to address the human rights and democratic abuses of the Erdoğan government. Seemingly in response, social media outlets went temporarily offline; the blackout has been attributed to the government. Meanwhile, soldiers who were part of the coup stormed the offices of government-managed broadcaster TRT and forced broadcasters to read a public statement declaring that the coup was in response to Erdoğan’s violation of secular law. The government then announced the belief that Gulen was behind the coup.

As the night progressed, witnesses reported that a military jet shot down a helicopter above Ankara. Coup forces then bombed the parliament building. Just after midnight, reports surfaced that a group of around thirty soldiers had surrendered to police in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. Crowds of citizens supporting the government began attacking coup soldiers in Ankara and Istanbul before they were stopped by police. By 9:00 a.m. the following morning, the government announced that the coup had failed and that loyalists had regained control of all occupied areas.

Prime Minister Yildirim released a statement saying that 161 had been killed, 1,440 wounded, and 2,839 soldiers detained during the conflict. Over the following weeks, the number of those detained grew rapidly, and included 2,745 judges and 10 members of the nation’s leading court, the Council of State. In press releases, Erdoğan accused the coup supporters of treason and announced that the government would consider reestablishing the death penalty. Erdoğan also announced a state of emergency, granting the government additional military and police powers.

Key Figures

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: President of Turkey.

Fethullah Gulen: Exiled Muslim cleric who founded the Hizmet movement in Turkey.

Kutbettin Gulen: Brother of Fethullah Gulen arrested in Turkey for allegedly taking part in an anti-government movement.

Binali Yildirim: Prime minister of Turkey

Bibliography

Arango, T., & Yeginsu, C. (2016, August 17). Turkey to release tens of thousands of prisoners to make room for coup suspects. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/world/europe/turkey-prisoners-erdogan.html?‗r=0

Arango, T., & Yeginsu, C. (2016, September 16). Turks see purge as witch hunt of "Medieval" darkness. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/world/europe/turkey-erdogan-gulen-purge.html

How the Turkish government regained control after a failed military coup. (2016, July 18). The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/turkey-military-coup/

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Narayan, C., Karimi, F., Fawzy, F., & Pavlak, S. (2016, July 3). Turkey coup attempt: How a night of death and mayhem unfolded. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/15/world/turkey-military-coup-what-we-know/

Turkey’s coup attempt: What you need to know. (2016, July 17). BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36816045

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