something afoot in Turkey?
Discussion
D-Angle said:
Erdogan managed to get on CNN Turkey and said he would do everything necessary to regain powet, even if that meant fatalities. If he has any substantial loyal power base, this could get very messy.
Interview via facetime from a hotel room, calling for citizens to take to the streets.nyxster said:
Girlfriend is on holiday in Istanbul. Haven't been able to get hold of her since last night - Facebook etc is supposedly blocked. Really concerned.
She'll be perfectly alright. Anyone living in Istanbul will take care of any foreigners in their midst. Many of the locals will welcome the action by the military in ensuring that Turkey remains secular.
D-Angle said:
Erdogan managed to get on CNN Turkey and said he would do everything necessary to regain powet, even if that meant fatalities. If he has any substantial loyal power base, this could get very messy.
Too many power crazies around nowadays - Erdogan, Juncker, Putin, Sturgeon 
NordicCrankShaft said:
I don't know much of the political situation in Turkey prior to this but what does this mean for the country is it a good or bad thing. All I know is the Erdogan is an apparent jerk off.
The military in Turkey are the good guys, stopping idiots getting power crazy. Erdogan is, in UK/Western eyes, the bad guy for gradually eroding rights and trying to encourage Islam.Munter said:
If they're shooting the police HQ I have a theory........A General in the army received a speeding ticket
paul789 said:
EricE said:
2016 so far could be the prologue of a Tom Clancy WW3 book. 
Here's a relevant article. The page seems to be down now so I've quoted the article and will edit it out when the page is backup.
Re Clancy - was just thinking that. I wish we could re-start 2016 and just have a vanilla year.Here's a relevant article. The page seems to be down now so I've quoted the article and will edit it out when the page is backup.
Michael Rubin said:
March 21, 2016 9:39
Could there be a coup in Turkey?
The situation in Turkey is bad and getting worse. It’s not just the deterioration in security amidst a wave of terrorism. Public debt might be stable, but private debt is out-of-control, the tourism sector is in free-fall, and the decline in the currency has impacted every citizen’s buying power. There is a broad sense, election results notwithstanding, that President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is out-of-control. He is imprisoning opponents, seizing newspapers left and right, and building palaces at the rate of a mad sultan or aspiring caliph. In recent weeks, he has once again threatened to dissolve the constitutional court. Corruption is rife. His son Bilal reportedly fled Italy on a forged Saudi diplomatic passport as the Italian police closed in on him in an alleged money laundering scandal. His outbursts are raising eyebrows both in Turkey and abroad. Even members of his ruling party whisper about his increasing paranoia which, according to some Turkish officials, has gotten so bad that he seeks to install anti-aircraft missiles at his palace to prevent airborne men-in-black from targeting him in a snatch-and-grab operation.
Turks — and the Turkish military — increasingly recognize that Erdo?an is taking Turkey to the precipice. By first bestowing legitimacy upon imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan with renewed negotiations and then precipitating renewed conflict, he has taken Turkey down a path in which there is no chance of victory and a high chance of de facto partition. After all, if civil war renews as in the 1980s and early 1990s, Turkey’s Kurds will be hard-pressed to settle for anything less, all the more so given the precedent now established by their brethren in Iraq and Syria.
Erdo?an long ago sought to kneecap the Turkish military. For the first decade of his rule, both the US government and European Union cheered him on. But that was before even Erdo?an’s most ardent foreign apologists recognized the depth of his descent into madness and autocracy. So if the Turkish military moves to oust Erdo?an and place his inner circle behind bars, could they get away with it?
In the realm of analysis rather than advocacy, the answer is yes. At this point in election season, it is doubtful that the Obama administration would do more than castigate any coup leaders, especially if they immediately laid out a clear path to the restoration of democracy. Nor would Erdo?an engender the type of sympathy that Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi did. When Morsi was ousted, his commitment to democracy was still subject to debate; that debate is now moot when it comes to the Turkish strongman. Neither the Republican nor Democratic frontrunners would put US prestige on the line to seek a return to the status quo ante; they might offer lip service against a coup, but they would work with the new regime.
Coup leaders might moot European and American human rights and civil society criticism and that of journalists by immediately freeing all detained journalists and academics and by returning seized newspapers and television stations to their rightful owners. Turkey’s NATO membership is no deterrent to action: Neither Turkey nor Greece lost their NATO membership after previous coups. Should a new leadership engage sincerely with Turkey’s Kurds, Kurds might come onboard. Neither European nor American public opinion would likely be sympathetic to the execution of Erdo?an, his son and son-in-law, or key aides like Egemen Ba??? and Cüneyd Zapsu, although they would accept a trial for corruption and long incarceration. Erdo?an might hope friends would rally to his side, but most of his friends — both internationally and inside Turkey — are attracted to his power. Once out of his palace, he may find himself very much alone, a shriveled and confused figure like Saddam Hussein at his own trial.
I make no predictions, but given rising discord in Turkey as well as the likelihood that the Turkish military would suffer no significant consequence should it imitate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s game plan in Egypt, no one should be surprised if Turkey’s rocky politics soon get rockier.
https://www.aei.org/publication/could-there-be-a-coup-in-turkey/Could there be a coup in Turkey?
The situation in Turkey is bad and getting worse. It’s not just the deterioration in security amidst a wave of terrorism. Public debt might be stable, but private debt is out-of-control, the tourism sector is in free-fall, and the decline in the currency has impacted every citizen’s buying power. There is a broad sense, election results notwithstanding, that President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an is out-of-control. He is imprisoning opponents, seizing newspapers left and right, and building palaces at the rate of a mad sultan or aspiring caliph. In recent weeks, he has once again threatened to dissolve the constitutional court. Corruption is rife. His son Bilal reportedly fled Italy on a forged Saudi diplomatic passport as the Italian police closed in on him in an alleged money laundering scandal. His outbursts are raising eyebrows both in Turkey and abroad. Even members of his ruling party whisper about his increasing paranoia which, according to some Turkish officials, has gotten so bad that he seeks to install anti-aircraft missiles at his palace to prevent airborne men-in-black from targeting him in a snatch-and-grab operation.
Turks — and the Turkish military — increasingly recognize that Erdo?an is taking Turkey to the precipice. By first bestowing legitimacy upon imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan with renewed negotiations and then precipitating renewed conflict, he has taken Turkey down a path in which there is no chance of victory and a high chance of de facto partition. After all, if civil war renews as in the 1980s and early 1990s, Turkey’s Kurds will be hard-pressed to settle for anything less, all the more so given the precedent now established by their brethren in Iraq and Syria.
Erdo?an long ago sought to kneecap the Turkish military. For the first decade of his rule, both the US government and European Union cheered him on. But that was before even Erdo?an’s most ardent foreign apologists recognized the depth of his descent into madness and autocracy. So if the Turkish military moves to oust Erdo?an and place his inner circle behind bars, could they get away with it?
In the realm of analysis rather than advocacy, the answer is yes. At this point in election season, it is doubtful that the Obama administration would do more than castigate any coup leaders, especially if they immediately laid out a clear path to the restoration of democracy. Nor would Erdo?an engender the type of sympathy that Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi did. When Morsi was ousted, his commitment to democracy was still subject to debate; that debate is now moot when it comes to the Turkish strongman. Neither the Republican nor Democratic frontrunners would put US prestige on the line to seek a return to the status quo ante; they might offer lip service against a coup, but they would work with the new regime.
Coup leaders might moot European and American human rights and civil society criticism and that of journalists by immediately freeing all detained journalists and academics and by returning seized newspapers and television stations to their rightful owners. Turkey’s NATO membership is no deterrent to action: Neither Turkey nor Greece lost their NATO membership after previous coups. Should a new leadership engage sincerely with Turkey’s Kurds, Kurds might come onboard. Neither European nor American public opinion would likely be sympathetic to the execution of Erdo?an, his son and son-in-law, or key aides like Egemen Ba??? and Cüneyd Zapsu, although they would accept a trial for corruption and long incarceration. Erdo?an might hope friends would rally to his side, but most of his friends — both internationally and inside Turkey — are attracted to his power. Once out of his palace, he may find himself very much alone, a shriveled and confused figure like Saddam Hussein at his own trial.
I make no predictions, but given rising discord in Turkey as well as the likelihood that the Turkish military would suffer no significant consequence should it imitate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s game plan in Egypt, no one should be surprised if Turkey’s rocky politics soon get rockier.
enjo said:
Commercial airlines don't seem so concerned...
https://www.flightradar24.com/39.28,34.63/7
Last flight from Manchester for Istanbul should have left 5 minutes ago. Departure information still showing 'Wait in lounge'.https://www.flightradar24.com/39.28,34.63/7
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