On-Going Military Coup in Turkey

[Blair]

In all fairness I'd want the UK to close off all airspace including at RAF lakenheath if parts of the RAF had just strafed London...

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Any chance the Caliph expelling U.S. forces if Gulen is not extradited?

[Green Line]

Any chance the Caliph expelling U.S. forces if Gulen is not extradited?

Maybe, but I think Erdogan still wants to keep NATO, for now at least.  We might be heading in that direction though.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Oh, Jesus Christ.  Of course we had to get some of the action.

[they don't love you like i love you]

No way this was a US-backed coup. Far too bumbling.

[Sozialliberal]

I agree that Erdoğan is terrible, but destabilizing Turkey seems too hazardous to me under the prevailing circumstances.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

No way this was a US-backed coup. Far too bumbling.

It's not like every coup backed by the US is successfull. Remember Venezuela?

[DINGO Joe]

No way this was a US-backed coup. Far too bumbling.

It's not like every coup backed by the US is successfull. Remember Venezuela?

And of course, Bay of Pigs for the (not) win. 

But no reason to think the US had any part in this.  Now those who don't think can come up with whatever narrative they want.

[RI]

Turkish PM says any country that stands by Gulen will be at war with Turkey.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Turkish PM says any country that stands by Gulen will be at war with Turkey.

lol

[Santander]

Turkish PM says any country that stands by Gulen will be at war with Turkey.

Good luck with that...

[Zanas]

Funny how I learned the name Inçirlik here last night, and how I haven't read it anywhere else since then. Nobody mentions it anywhere, I'm afraid it's just you Americans being Americanocentric. This coup was not a US thing, was not about the US, and even Erdogan doesn't really believe it's been Gulen behind it so he will talk about it a little but won't demand an extradition.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

Funny how I learned the name Inçirlik here last night, and how I haven't read it anywhere else since then. Nobody mentions it anywhere, I'm afraid it's just you Americans being Americanocentric.

nah, 'sbeen in the news in germany recently too, due to erdoğan blocking politicians from visiting the german troops stationed there.

[Green Line]

Funny how I learned the name Inçirlik here last night, and how I haven't read it anywhere else since then. Nobody mentions it anywhere, I'm afraid it's just you Americans being Americanocentric. This coup was not a US thing, was not about the US, and even Erdogan doesn't really believe it's been Gulen behind it so he will talk about it a little but won't demand an extradition.

Americans are talking about American bases in Turkey. Go figure!

And he's already demanded extradition so you're wrong on that too.

[Ebsy]

It's probably not in the US' interests to prevent an extradition of him.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It's probably not in the US' interests to prevent an extradition of him.

They can't afford to hand over someone who's for all intents and purposes a political exile to a country known to persecute critics of the regime.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

It's probably not in the US' interests to prevent an extradition of him.

It's probably in the interest of humanity that we do [prevent extradition] though and considering the power imbalance, I'm happy to take that humane option.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

[RodPresident]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

There's a lot of interesting similarities between the 1960 coup and the recent attempt. The former was conducted by just a fraction of the army (led entirely by officers below the rank of general), and it appears the latter was a faction of the army as well (with a couple of generals in at most).

The outcome was of course diffrent. Senior generals accepted the coup post factum, only demanding one of them will be picked as country's new leader (Cemal Gürsel). This time it didn't work, but killing Edrogan was, as far as the coup leaders were concerned, the best outcome. Sure, he'll be a martyr for some but less dangerous than alive. After all, those who executed Menderes never suffered consequences.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

On the contrary, it is usually preferable to assassinate the leader if it is impossible to arrest them.

For example the 20 July Plot failed because the plotters failed to assassinate Hitler, and the coup subsequently failed because of this.

It's also interesting how close it was for the July 20 plotters to accomplish their goal. If Stauffenberg used two bombs instead of one or if the meeting hadn't been moved to a wooden barrack instead of a concrete bunker, Hitler would've died.

History is full of such small coincidences with huge consequences.

Anyway, as of Erdogan, had he been successfull in escaping Turkey if the coup succeeded, he'd still be more of a threat than dead.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

At height of Turkish coup bid, rebel jets had Erdogan's plane in their sights

So close, lol.

Killing Erdogan to create another Menderes. Coup leaders wouldn't be dumb to kill him.

On the contrary, it is usually preferable to assassinate the leader if it is impossible to arrest them.

For example the 20 July Plot failed because the plotters failed to assassinate Hitler, and the coup subsequently failed because of this.

It's also interesting how close it was for the July 20 plotters to accomplish their goal. If Stauffenberg used two bombs instead of one or if the meeting hadn't been moved to a wooden barrack instead of a concrete bunker, Hitler would've died.

History is full of such small coincidences with huge consequences.

Anyway, as of Erdogan, had he been successfull in escaping Turkey if the coup succeeded, he'd still be more of a threat than dead.

True.

What's also interesting is that the plotters of the July 20 Coup attempting to hoodwink the German Reserve Army into believing a coup was taking place and that Hitler was dead, in order to actually attempt the coup.

In Turkey, much of the army believed it was a "training exercise" and only realized it was a coup when they came under attack, which explained their unpreparedness and why many willingly surrendered.

Yes, that's a paradox. You can't conduct a successfull coup if too many people knows real objectives, but that brings a risk of your troops unpreparedness if things deviates from the plan.

I guess the moral is: coups are a risky business.

[YaBoyNY]

It's probably not in the US' interests to prevent an extradition of him.

Yeah no I'd rather not extradite someone to a country that thinks they're far more important than they really are what with "lol we're gonna DECLARE WAR on whoever stands by Gulen"

They're like the scrawny idiot who thinks they're relevant at the big boy table.

[ag]

Shyte. Once the military started moving, there was no good ending to this. If they won, they would have been a nasty, ugly, bloody dictatorship. Since they lost, Erdogan will be able to destroy what is left of Turkey´s democracy. This is a real tragedy.

[Green Line]

Shyte. Once the military started moving, there was no good ending to this. If they won, they would have been a nasty, ugly, bloody dictatorship. Since they lost, Erdogan will be able to destroy what is left of Turkey´s democracy. This is a real tragedy.

I don't see any reason to believe the military would have instituted a bloody dictatorship.  Their previous coups always restored democracy after a period of time.  (It took ~2~ years after the 1971 and 1980 coups, but there were justifiable reasons for military rule both times IMO).

The coup leaders seemed concerned by Erdogan's brazen moves to turn Turkey into a dictatorship.  They were the good guys in this.