Skip to main content

Death toll rises after failed coup in Turkey

People wave Turkish flags in IstanbulPeople wave Turkish flags in Istanbul
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said 161 people were killed in the coup attempt against the government, with 2,839 soldiers now detained on suspicion of involvement.
Mr Yildirim, speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara and flanked by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt, also described the putsch bid as a "black stain" on Turkish democracy.
He added that 1,440 people had been wounded. The 161 toll did not include the assailants, he emphasised.
Earlier acting army chief General Umit Dundar said 104 coup plotters were killed in the violence, before warning that anyone who betrays the country will not go unpunished.
Mr Yildirim said the situation was "completely under control"  after the coup attempt blamed by the government on supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
A Turkish official added that 29 colonels and five generals had been removed from their posts.
Turkey's parliament, which was targeted by coup plotters and received extensive damage, held an extraordinary session, broadcast live on television.

Turkey parliament
Police arrest a soldier
NATO chief hails 'strong support' of democracy by Turks
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has hailed the mass turnout of Turks on the streets overnight which played a critical role in thwarting the attempted coup.
"I welcome the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey," Mr Stoltenberg said on Twitter.
The NATO chief called for "calm, restraint & full respect for Turkey's democratic institutions and constitution."
Mr Erdogan urged Turks to remain on the streets today.
Gulen denies involvement 
Mr Gulen, a former ally of Mr Erdogan, denied being behind the attempted coup and condemned it "in the strongest terms".
"As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations," Mr Gulen said in a brief statement just before midnight Friday.
"I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey," read the two-paragraph statement.
Mr Erdogan has accused the reclusive Islamic preacher, who lives in a tiny town in the Pocono Mountains of the US state of Pennsylvania, of being behind the coup.
The two fell out in recent years as Mr Erdogan became suspicious of Mr Gulen's movement, Hizmet, and its powerful presence in Turkish society, including the media, police and judiciary.
The preacher moved to the United States in 1999, before he was charged with treason in his native country.
Flight from Dublin Airport cancelled
Two Turkish Airlines flights to Istanbul due to depart from Dublin Airport today have been cancelled.
A spokesperson for Sunway Travel, which operates flights to Turkey, has said anyway travelling with them to Izmir are being offered the option of cancelling their holiday with a full refund, or they can continue with their travel plans.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jane the Virgin Season Finale Recap: The Wedding of Jane Gloriana Villanueva

Ivonne Coll as Alba, Gina Rodriquez as Jane, Andrea Navedo as Xo. If I could write this whole recap with emojis, there'd be several varieties of hearts, the running man, the dancing woman, and lots and lots of fires and heart-eyed faces. Those creepy dancing twin girls would also make an appearance. And there'd be a gun. My imaginary emoji recap is appealing because it's incredibly hard to come away from a blockbuster hour of television like "Chapter Forty-Four" and pull together coherent thoughts that aren't just "AHHH!" or "WHY would you get ICE for the DAMN CHAMPAGNE?!" or "OMG FACE OFF MASK!" or "Why isn't all of life just Jane and Rogelio doing that father/daughter dance forever?" But I'll give it a try. Jane the Virgin 's season finale is a narrative fireworks display, a shock-and-awe storytelling spectacular that short-circuits emotional processing centers with blazing confidence. It drops j...

Who Is Zuleyka Rivera? 5 Things To Know About The ‘Despacito’ Actress

With ‘Despacito’ up for Record of the Year at the 2018 Grammy Awards, here’s everything you need to know about the music video’s actress — Zuleyka Rivera! 1. She’s a renowned beauty queen.  Not only did she claim the Miss Universe Puerto Rico title, Zuleyka eventually took the top prize and was later crowned Miss Universe in 2006. 2. After her huge Miss Universe win, she studied acting and eventually became a TV star.  She now lives in Miami where she’s frequently a special guest or a host on shows like  Un Nuevo Dia  on Telemundo and  Despierta America  on Univision. Before that, she became a breakout star by appearing on several Televisa soap operas in Mexico. 3. In addition to modeling, she also owns her own clothing line.  On top of running her own teen-ware clothing collection, she also has three fragrance lines called the Karisma, Zuleyka and Zuleyka 2010. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she also started an amazing swims...

Game of Thrones recap: season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards review: Jon and Sansa's bitter spat and Ramsay's brutal sacrifice

Game of Thrones season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards   CREDIT:  HBO   O h now, that was VERY impressive. And by “impressive” we mean gruelling, cathartic and upsetting. By the end of the Battle of the Bastards and the Jon Snow v Ramsay Bolton showdown over Winterfell   we felt as if we’d crawled through a freezing quagmire, climbed a wall of cadavers and gasped for breath as a dozen dying men sat on our faces .  Which, oddly enough, is exactly what befell Jon as the grumpy saviour negotiated the grandest mass battle Game of Thrones has yet mounted for our enjoyment/terror/disgust Tormund Giantsbane in Game of Thrones season 6, episode 9, Battle of the Bastards A  cast of hundreds, a budget of millions, flayed men roasting on an open fire – season four’s penultimate episode had it all. Yet spectacle took a backseat to gut-punch drama as poor, sweet Rickon met his untimely demise and questions were raise...