A stronger hand for Turkey’s authoritarian

In the end, the Turkey failed coup was all over by lunchtime, with President Recip Tayyip Erdogan vowing swift revenge on the perpetrators behind Friday’s night of bloodshed.

Yet the shoddiness of the coup, the failure of the rebels to take over state TV, and the swiftness at which it all fizzled out has created an element of suspicion among Turkish citizens about who exactly was behind the entire operation.

“I have seen four military coups in my lifetime, but never one that allowed the government to use national TV and Internet to spread its propaganda,” former BirdLife Malta director and environmental activist Tolga Temuge told MaltaToday. “The organisers just made one public statement, without even identifying themselves, and Erdogan was allowed to go on state TV to tell his supporters to take to the streets. It’s very weird; one of the first things that people behind a coup usually do is seize control of the media.”

“It’s very strange that Erdogan managed to deliver a speech to the nation from a safe spot in the middle of a coup,” Malta-based Turkish artist Berivan Serin said. “Why was the media only showing his side?”

Similarly, Monique Agius – a Front Harsien ODZ activist who used to work in Turkey – noted that the Turkish government tends to react to crises, such as the recent Ankara bombings, by blocking social media.

“My friends in Ankara were downloading Tor, so as to gain access to social media websites [through the Dark Web] in case the government was to impose a ban. However, the ban never happened…”

Was the Istanbul coup a false flag?

The coup started on Friday night, when tanks took over the two Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul. Shortly after, a faction of the Turkish army released a statement that a “peace council” was in control of the country “to restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedom”.

Erdogan, who was on holiday at the time, made a televised address to the nation via his mobile phone to urge the people to take to the streets in protest. Thousands answered his call, and graphic footage later emerged of a rebel soldier beheaded by a mob. In total, around 160 people were killed and 1,440 injured during the night of fighting, which resulted in the arrest of some 2,840 soldiers. A victorious Erdogan later denounced the coup as an act of treason and suggested that the coup was the work of Fethullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric who fell out with the President in 2013 after accusing Erdogan of corruption.

However, Turkish citizens who spoke to MaltaToday said that the situation fell very neatly into Erdogan’s hands and his plans to seize more power, perhaps too neatly for it to be a coincidence.

“The scary thing is that Erdogan managed to mobilize his Islamist base in the wake of civil unrest, and we could see the consequences last night,” Temuge said. “While it sounds like a conspiracy theory to suggest that Erdogan orchestrated the entire coup himself, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the fact that he will emerge stronger from it.

“A coup isn’t conducted like that – late at night, with Parliament bombed, soldiers seizing the Bosphurus Bridge that offers no strategic vantage point, and the government allowed to retain control over communications…”

“It’s all a game, for Erdogan to emerge as Turkey’s hero and usher in a new presidential system with himself at the top,” Serin said. “That’s his dream, and he has previously created terrorist attacks to help him achieve that aim.”

Agius noted that mosques started calling for prayer and support for Erdogan as soon as the President had delivered his statement, even though it was made outside normal praying hours.

“In retrospect, it seems as though the coup was a false flag used to consolidate power for Erdogan. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out, but it could well be that Erdogan uses it to mobilize his base and press on with his bid to become an executive president.

Tumer Gencturk, a Turkish photographer living on the island, warned that Erdogan is likely to consolidate power following the coup, heralding another shift of the country into an “Islamist Republic of Turkey”.

 “When identifying a murderer, the first question you must ask is who stands to gain the most from it. It is clear that Erdogan has emerged as the winner here,” he said. “It’s a theatre… I can’t say who orchestrated it, but the result is that Erdogan effectively has a clean slate to pass whatever laws he wants to without any opposition. He was in trouble before the coup, with bomb attacks taking place around the country. All that will be forgotten now, and popular discourse for the next two months will be all about the failed coup and about how Erdogan emerged as the country’s saviour.”

The ultimate losers, Gencturk warned, are likely to be advocates for a modern and secular Turkey.

“The coup was probably organised by an Islamist group,” he said, referring to Gulen’s supporters. “However, the people pushing for a more secular, modern and democratic Turkey will be the losers. It’s worrying for both Turkey and the entire region; a destabilized Turkey will be equivalent to a destabilized Mediterranean.”

Coup attempt timeline

20:30 (CET) Reports that two major bridges over the Bosphorus in Istanbul are closed, causing major traffic congestion. Army units are seen moving through the city. Images circulate on social media of cars and buses backed up on roads in the city and troops deployed on the Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge.

20:50 Fighter jets and helicopters are reported in the sky over the capital, Ankara. Helicopters seen over Istanbul. Reports of gunfire in Ankara.

21:00 Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announces that unsanctioned “military activity” is under way. He calls for calm and says government forces will “do what is necessary” to restore order.

22:00 The chief-of-staff of the Turkish military is among hostages held by coup plotters in Ankara, state-run news agency Anadolu reports. A correspondent with Turkish state broadcaster TRT tells the Reuters news agency that troops have stormed the station.

22:15 Statement read on state-owned TRT says military has “completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order”. A new constitution is to be prepared. The statement accuses the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of eroding democracy. A curfew is announced and martial law is to be imposed across the country. The TRT news anchor who read out the statement will later say that she was forced at gunpoint to make the announcement.

22:30 President Erdogan urges the public to take to the streets to protest against the coup. “We will overcome this,” Erdogan says in a video call to a mobile phone held up to a camera by a CNN Turk presenter. The coup plotters will pay a heavy price, he says.

23:00 Witnesses report that a military helicopter opened fire over Ankara and tanks are deployed at parliament buildings in the city. Explosions are reported and a member of parliament says people are sheltering inside the building. Turkish justice minister says loyalists of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen are behind the attempted coup.

00:00 Turkish fighter jet is reported to have shot down a military helicopter used by coup plotters over Ankara. Anadolu news agency reports that 17 police officers killed.

00:50 Explosions heard in Istanbul. Prime Minister Yildirim says situation under control in the country, and blames supporters of the exiled preacher, Gulen. A US-based organisation linked to Gulen denies any involvement.

01:20 Erdogan arrives in Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport. Speaking to a crowd of supporters outside the airport, the president says the plotters “have pointed the people’s guns against the people” and their attempt to seize power will fail.

01:30 Reports of more explosions at parliament buildings in Ankara while troops are reported to have started to surrender in locations in Istanbul. Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala says the coup attempt has been “neutralised”.

01:45 Soldiers surrender weapons in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square after being surrounded by armed police units loyal to the government.

03:00 The president’s office says at least 60 people killed and around 130 anti-government forces arrested.

Daybreak  Images are broadcast of scores of troops with arms raised surrendering on a bridge in Istanbul. The government says more than 700 have been arrested and the coup attempt has failed.