Short but eerie video. http://vid.pr0gramm.com/2016/07/15/8e122549566a194b.mp4

MSNBC reports that Germany denied Erdogan permission to land.

Helicopter gunships have fired on positions in Ankara, and the head of the army is reportedly dead. Reports indicate that this is a coup lead by the navy and airforce sections of the armed forces. Erdogan has been seen on camera (not facetime) so may be back in Turkey.

I want him to be shot. And if not, I want him to be brought to the court in Den Haag. And shot after that.

Helicopter gunships now firing on the Bosphorus bridge, large pro-Erdogan protests in Istanbuls main square.

EDIT: The pro-Erdogan protests tweet has since been dismissed as fake.

When reading your comments more question popped up in my head questions I don't know if you can give an answer to.

Markus

I can always try, but honestly if this years shown us anything is that the unexpected is to be expected.

1 Is only some section of the air forces supporting this coup and does the same goes for the Navy ?

2. If not enough support-Could this end more quickly that we thought or could it go into a long battle-maybe a little civil war ?

3. Asking people to enter the streets. have Erdogan a plan for using civilians against trained soldiers - canon fodder so to say ?

Markus

1. It seems that at least a couple of aircraft and some attack helicopters (presuming that they are reporting to the airforce rather than ground forces) are involved. I've also seen reports of Turkish naval forces clearing the harbour, preparing to set sail for 'somewhere'. Certainly though there does seem to be a large contingent of ground forces in strategic locations in Ankara and Istanbul. The key factor will be how many in the army are pro-Erdogan, enough to rally the police and push the coup forces back could make this a more drawn out affair.

2. It's....sadly possible. The fight back seems to be taking place now, since the initial shock of the coup seems to have worn off, there are lots of pro-Erdogan supporters mobilising, at least one tank has been commandeered and its crew arrested by them, the police forces seem to be pro-Erdogan and are fighting back against the military.
Apparently some mosques are sounding the 'Ezan' the call to prayer, most likely in response to Erdogans call for people to go on the street and resist.
This will go on for at least 24 hours, and there's going to be a lot of confusion overnight as skirmishes continue.
Will it go on longer than a couple of days? That all depends on Erdogan really, if he is shown to have left the country then things might well collapse, but there's going to be a lot of resentment from pro-Erdogan supporters towards the military and that could be displayed in suicide bombings and the like. The shockwaves from this are going to reverberate for a few months to come.

3. Yup, it works in his favour for a couple of ways. The Turkish armed forces are mostly conscript based, so they'll have a link with the common people and thus may be more reluctant to open fire on them when ordered.
Those that do open fire on civilians will be plastered all over the media during gaps in the media blackout and it will be shown as a ruthless military attack on democracy and civilians. The longer Erdogan can spin this out, the more likely it becomes that the coup will fail.


That's how I see it anyway, but honestly at the moment 2016 is basically taking the world and throwing it at the fan, so nothing makes sense any more. Time will tell.

Tanks moving through the streets of Ankara:

https://twitter.com/miladvisor/statu...81080647487493

Commander of the 1st Army has come out against the coup, and the commander of the Military Special Forces has declared that the coup will fail.

Tank vs crowds:
https://twitter.com/yunuspaksoy/stat...rc=twsrc%5Etfw


Things seem very much in the balance right now, could go either way.


EDIT: Social media showing a good insight:

https://www.facebook.com/live

Zoom into Istanbul for many many live feeds from the ground.

On the Danish News Channel a Danish man living in Turkey was on Skype during the interview with him we could clearly hear fighter jets in the air and a sound that sounded like a machine gun some second later we could hear some explosion

Those sound of machine gun-was this from the ground against the fighter jets or against some other targets on the ground ?

This sound of explosion was it due to some missile send from one of these fighter jets or something ground to ground-thing ?

Markus

Sadly...I think that this coup is going to fail, and it's going to empower Erdogan greatly.

Turkish air force(loyal to coup maker) have shot down a helicopter(Gunship If I understod it correctly)

Markus

Most likely ground fire, probably not at the aircraft though, the only reference I've seen to F-16s attacking anything at the moment is that they have shot down a helicopter which was apparently on the side of the coupists. There's been gunfire between ground forces, mainly the police against the coupists, and there has also been a lot of air to ground fire from attack helicopters which have been hovering around the city. They are the ones that have attacked the Presidential Palace and Intelligence Agency. If I had to guess, given the rate of fire in this video:
https://twitter.com/Nayn_Co/status/754086295186661376

I'd have said it was a Super-Cobra using its chain gun.

I am usually not one to believe in conspiracy theories, but this "coup" makes me think that it was organized by Erdogan to put a final nail in the military's coffin and ensure him complete control over the forces of repression in Turkey.

Ordinarily I'd say that such a thing was too far into the tin-hat zone...but this is Erdogan...and quite frankly I wouldn't put it past him. :nope: