Exhorted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a mass text message and an address via FaceTime app, defiant Turks rose up against a military coup, dragging cowering soldiers from their tanks and beating them up, thwarting the putsch attempt
Ankara: Defiant Turkish civilians reclaimed the country from their own military after helping to end a coup by the army to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Uniforms and weapons of soldiers involved in the coup attempt abandoned on Bosphorus bridge. Pics/Getty Images
Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and lay in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country, ignoring a curfew issued by coup plotters designed to allow the army to bring down the government unopposed.
Call to arms
President Erdogan called on people to take to the streets, leading to reports of groups of soldiers surrendering at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers. Officials said they had regained control of the country.
Civilians beat up soldiers
After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year ‘autocratic’ rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible “flare-up”.
Civilians celebrate after rebel soldiers’ surrender
Describing the attempted coup as a “black stain” on Turkey’s democracy, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, “The situation is completely under control.” He was flanked by Turkey’s top general, Hulusi Akar, who had been taken hostage by the plotters.
People power
During the night when power was in the balance, large crowds of flag-waving supporters of Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party defied orders of a curfew and marched out onto the streets to block the attempt to overthrow the regime.
Friday night’s putsch bid began with rebel F-16 jets screaming low over rooftops in Ankara, soldiers and tanks taking to the streets and explosions in the capital and Istanbul. Rebel troops also moved to block the two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, culminating in a stand-off with an angry crowd.
Civilians killed
As protesters poured onto the streets, troops opened fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded. Soldiers also shot at protesters denouncing the coup bid at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, injuring several.
There was chaos in Istanbul as angry crowds jeered the passing tanks, with smaller numbers welcoming the troops.
As part of its subsequent crackdown on the coup plotters, authorities detained one of the military’s top generals and a member of the nation’s highest court. The government was said to be considering the death penalty for all plotters.
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