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

Hillary Clinton Gains Double-Digit Lead Over Donald Trump in Key Battleground States

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has built up a significant lead in several crucial battleground states, according to new NBC/WSJ/Marist polling released today. Clinton has generated double-digit margins in Virginia and Colorado with 13-point and 14-point advantages over Trump, respectively. The poll also showed Clinton with leads over Trump in Florida and North Carolina. In the Sunshine State, Clinton has a 5-point edge among registered voters. In North Carolina, Clinton enjoys a 9-point advantage. Losses in these states could be devastating for Trump. The Republican nominee’s clearest path to the White House requires wins in Ohio and Florida, where Hillary Clinton has a slight lead, as well as North Carolina and Pennsylvania, where he trails by a broad nine percentage points. Trump has been plagued by controversy since his party’s convention three weeks ago, clashing with the father of a fallen Muslim soldier, refusing to endorse House Speaker...

Former NFL player Darren Sharper sentenced to 18 years in drugging and rape case

The former NFL player Darren Sharper has been sentenced to 18 years in prison in a case in which he was accused of drugging and raping as many as 16 women in four states. Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced Sharper on Thursday. He had pleaded guilty or no-contest in federal court in New Orleans, and state courts in Louisiana, Arizona, California and Nevada to charges arising from the allegations of drugging and raping women. Prosecutors suggested a nine-year prison term for Sharper under a multi-jurisdictional plea deal, but Milazzo rejected it as too lenient in June. The sentence was 15 months short of the maximum. He was also fined $20,000. Sharper pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of distributing drugs with rape as the aim. He or his friend Brandon Licciardi, a former sheriff’s deputy in neighboring St Bernard Parish, put anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives into women’s drinks so they could rape them, according to a 15-page statement signed as part of ...

Jill Stein on 11 key issues: Where does Green Party presidential candidate stand?

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein presents herself as a viable alternative this year to the two major-party candidates, who have the lowest approval ratings of any presidential nominees in the past seven decades. Stein, 66, of Lexington, Mass., is making her second bid for president on the Green Party ballot line. The Harvard-educated doctor received almost 500,000 votes for president in 2012, which she boasts is still the record for most votes received by a woman candidate for president in the general election. Stein says she became involved in politics more than a decade ago because she didn't like the country's direction, and had become alarmed about children becoming ill from environmental pollution and unhealthy foods they are provided. She and running mate Ajamu Baraka support a "Green New Deal" under which the government would end dependence on fossil fuels, fight climate change and create millions of new green-energy jobs. Here...