Military coup underway in Turkey

Some odd stories starting to appear concerning Turkey:

Laura Wells ‏@wellsla 3h3 hours ago
What's going on in #Ankara & #Istanbul?

-Reports of jets (F-16s?) flying low in Ankara
-Both Istanbul bridges closed by soldiers (CNNTurk)

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Mahir Zeynalov
‏@MahirZeynalov
Reports of significant military presence in urban areas in Turkey. Two Istanbul bridges on lockdown by military.

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ilhan tanir
‏@WashingtonPoint
Bosporus Bridge currently blocked by Turkish Military. Everybody is asking: what is going on? Turkey. Istanbul.




Old Holborn ✘ ‏@Holbornlolz 3h3 hours ago
Old Holborn ✘ Retweeted Zerdacal
Police in Istanbul are being disarmed by the Military.

HERE WE GO

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Winbu ‏@Namevindi 3h3 hours ago
Rumours of a militart coup d'etat in Turkey after opposition news website @Haberdar published story on skirmishes b'ween police & soldiers.

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F. ‏@fdg_____ 3h3 hours ago
@michaelh992 bridge over Bosphorus and road to Parlamenti in Ankara blocked byArmy, F16 low flight. That's all we know

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Boris Kálnoky ‏@bkalnoky 3h3 hours ago
Another Istanbul friend tells me people in the streets exchanging rumors, "there's a coup", some say "finally we'll be free"

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RTÉ News ‏@rtenews 3h3 hours ago
Gunfire heard in Turkish capital and military jets and helicopters seen overhead - witnesses


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A military coup in a wannabee Euronation? Yes, why not, it's about the only thing that hasn't happened so far this ghastly year....

https://twitter.com/hashtag/ankara?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=refgoogle


Bachar El-Halabi ‏@BacharZhalabi 3h3 hours ago The Hague, The Netherlands
Unconfirmed reports suggest a nationwide military martial law declared by #Turkish Army. Turkish military jets flying over #Ankara.
#Turkey

Gringo Starr ‏@BobbyKirton1 6m6 minutes ago
Turkeys under martial law apparently

CraigNUFC ⚫️ ⚪️
‏@reemism
@BobbyKirton1 Tanks #istanbul



Never a good sign.

Thanks, LL - the world has gone so bonkers, I can't keep up with it any more. I wonder how the PM thinks he's going to stop the coup, what with the other side having all those guns, tanks and fighter jets?

It's official.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36809083

Both of the main bridges in the Turkish city of Istanbul have been closed by security forces, reports say.
Traffic has been stopped from crossing both the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges, but no reasons have been given.
There are also reports of military aircraft flying over the capital Ankara, with gunshots heard.
It is unclear if the events are related and there has been no official information so far on the deployments.


Er, it's quite hard to get 'official' information when the military is slinging out the government. Erdrogan is on his holidays in Bodrun, apparently.

Sky News Newsdesk ‏@SkyNewsBreak 3h3 hours ago
Update - Reuters: #Turkey's military says in a statement that the military has taken over

Old Holborn ✘ ‏@Holbornlolz 3h3 hours ago
Turkish Military statement says it has seized control of Govt to "restore democracy"

If they follow in the footsteps of the illustrious Ataturk, it can only be an improvement.

BB12 And World News ‏@BB12NewsEditors 3h3 hours ago
-BreakingNews- Telephones confiscated, #stateTV centre has been stormed. #Turkey #Istanbul More follows.

Unconfirmed:

AIRLIVE
‏@airlivenet
BREAKING According to our source, Turkish president Ardogan left the country in his private presidential jet http://ift.tt/29V4vsA

Hope he's gone.

Hmmm. My middle child and his girlfriend flew into Istanbul this very morning.....

Just as 'er indoors was about to go apoplectic he's just been on the phone. And is staying in the hotel, keeping their heads down. He said lots of military in the street outside, bridges closed, all flights cancelled.

According to the famed Sky Sauces, the coup has been successful, the military is in charge, and Erdrogan is nowhere to be found.

And anyone who thinks this is bad, should look up Kemal Ataturk, and realise how badly the horrible Erdrogan has betrayed secular Turkey.

Jean-Pierre.t50 wrote:Hmmm.  My middle child and his girlfriend flew into Istanbul this very morning.....

Just as 'er indoors was about to go apoplectic he's just been on the phone.  And is staying in the hotel, keeping their heads down.  He said lots of military in the street outside, bridges closed, all flights cancelled.  

Oh Lord, Jean-Pierre, what a worry! Yes, I can well imagine Mrs J-P being somewhat concerned, I know the feeling travelling relatives can cause....

I am sure tourists will be OK if they stay inside during the first chaos, and hopefully the military will get things under control - just for once, they aren't 100% the bad guys.

The twitter feeds are more informative than TV pundits - who are commenting on what they're reading on twitter, mostly, anyway.

Thanks Bonny. It does all seem to be pretty confused right now. Which is not helping Mrs J-P stay cool and calm.

Will see what develops - bugger all else we can do.

I see Erdrogan has surfaced on social media of some description, talking to a journo on a cellphone - the Turkish TV anchors are giving a splendid display of stiff upper lips in all this.

Your children getting caught up in a military coup must be high on anyone's nightmare list, Jean-Pierre, but if it's any consolation, the Turkish military are actually fairly sane, and secular - they aren't going to harm tourists, unlike some of the other lunatics in Turkey.

J-P, I do feel for you and Mrs J-P.  Everything will be all right soon and you will have some amazing stories to tell in the future.  

In the meantime, maybe you could suggest a fairly stiff drink?