Military coup underway in Turkey

http://sputniknews.com/world/20160812/1044204158/russia-turkey-syria-coalition.html?utm_source=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FhlA1fpgXxw&utm_medium=short_url&utm_content=bUkY&utm_campaign=URL_shortening



The next few months may see Turkey join the anti-terror coalition in Syria which includes Iran and Russia, Iranian political analyst Reza Moghaddasi told Sputnik.

Syrian army soldiers patrol the area around the entrance of Bani Zeid after taking control of the previously rebel-held district of Leramun, on the northwest outskirts of Aleppo, on July 28, 2016
© AFP 2016/ GEORGE OURFALIAN
Putin-Erdogan Meeting: Cooperation of Russia, Turkey and Iran ‘Would Help to Resolve Syrian Crisis'
In an interview with Sputnik, Iranian political analyst Reza Moghaddasi did not rule out the possibility of Turkey finally joining the anti-terror coalition in Syria which comprises Russia and Iran, in light of the ongoing improvement in Russian-Turkish relations.
The interview came ahead of Friday's visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to the Turkish capital Ankara, where he will meet an array of senior Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

High on the agenda will be developing relations between Turkey and Iran, as well as ways to resolve the Syrian issue.......etc.

I don't think there are words to describe the complete and utter disaster Obama and co have caused in the Middle East with their meddling and regime-changing.

I think he must be really pleased with himself......

Turkey issues arrest warrant for ex-soccer star
12 August 2016
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of former soccer star and legislator Hakan Sukur over his links to a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, accused by Turkey of masterminding last month's failed coup, media reports said Friday.
http://www.mail.com/int/entertainment/celebrity/4539220-turkey-issues-arrest-warrant-ex-soccer-star.html#.1258-stage-hero1-8

He's just your typical dictator.........

Footballers would be at the bottom of my list of likely cunning plotters.....they've never been known for their brains.

I'll say.

German held in Turkey's post-coup crackdown released
Published: 12 Aug 2016 16:32 GMT+02:00
A German woman detained in Turkey as part of Ankara's crackdown in the wake of last month's failed coup has been freed, Berlin confirmed Friday.

"The Foreign Ministry confirms a report in the Spiegel magazine, that the German citizen, who was a arrested in Turkey a few days ago, has been released," the ministry said in a statement.

Authorities did not identify the woman nor give any further details about the circumstances surrounding her detention.

But the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported last week that she was detained after books were found at her home suggesting she had links with the Fethullah Gülen movement.

Sounds somewhat paranoid?

Istanbul police detain 136 courthouse staff in coup probe
August 15, 2016
ISTANBUL (AP) — Police teams on Monday apprehended 136 personnel in operations conducted at three Istanbul courthouses as part of an investigation into the July 15 abortive coup. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the Istanbul chief public prosecutor's office had issued detention orders for 173 personnel working at Istanbul's Caglayan, Bakirkoy and Gaziosmanpasa courthouses. Of those, 136 were detained in Monday's raids.

The operations are part of the government's investigation into the movement led by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara alleges Gulen was responsible for the violent coup attempt that left over 270 people dead. Gulen denies any involvement.
https://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4544816-istanbul-police-detain-136-courthouse-staff-coup-p.html#.1272-stage-hero1-1
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Turkey says failed coup was decades in the making
August 15, 2016
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish investigators call it the ultimate long game. In 1986, the Turkish military expelled dozens of cadets suspected of loyalty to a young Muslim cleric named Fethullah Gulen, seen as a potential threat to the country's strict secular rule. Officials, a magazine reported at the time, said an alleged recruiter had told the students to work their way through the ranks and wait for instructions that would come in a few decades.
https://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4544768-turkey-failed-coup-was-decades-making.html#.1272-stage-hero1-6

Officials, a magazine reported at the time, said an alleged recruiter had told the students to work their way through the ranks and wait for instructions that would come in a few decades.

If there is any truth at all in that, it's worthy of the old Soviet Union.

Isn't it just?

Turkey requests return of 8 officers who fled to Greece
August 16, 2016
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's state-run news agency says officials have made a formal request to Greece for the extradition of eight Turkish officers who fled to the neighboring country after last month's attempted coup.

Anadolu Agency said Tuesday a Justice Ministry file for the officers' return has been delivered to Greece. The six pilots and two engineers fled to Greece in a military helicopter, and Turkey wants them returned to stand trial for participating in the attempt.

The eight deny involvement and have applied for asylum, saying they fear for their safety amid widespread purges in the aftermath of the attempted overthrow of the government.
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Turkish prosecutors seek 2 life sentences for Gulen
16 August 2015
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Prosecutors in western Turkey have demanded a life sentence for U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of masterminding the failed coup, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.

Concluding a yearlong investigation into his movement's financial dealings, prosecutors in the city of Usak demanded that Gulen be punished with two life sentences plus 1,900 years in prison, the Anadolu Agency reported.
http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4546866-turkish-prosecutors-seek-2-life-sentences-gulen.html#.1258-stage-hero1-1

Do they expect him to go through multiple incarnations? I dread to think what Erdogan will be like in the future.

Turkey coup inquiry: Police raid companies and target CEOs
16 August 2016
Turkish police have raided 44 companies and are seeking the arrest of 120 company executives, as part of the investigation into last month's failed coup, state media report.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37093411

Turkey to release 38,000 from jail; frees space for plotters
August 17, 2016
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey issued a decree Wednesday paving the way for the conditional release of some 38,000 prisoners, the justice minister said — an apparent move to reduce its prison population to make space for thousands of people who have been arrested as part of an investigation into last month's failed coup.

The government decree, issued under Turkey's three-month long state of emergency that was declared following the coup, allows the release of inmates who have two years or less to serve of their prison terms and makes convicts who have served half of their prison term eligible for parole. Some prisoners are excluded from the measures: people convicted of murder, domestic violence, sexual abuse or terrorism and other crimes against the state.
http://www.mail.com/int/news/europe/4549640-turkey-to-release-38000-jail-frees-space-plotters.html#.1258-stage-hero1-1

And all the released prisoners will be loyal to Erdogan, adding to his army of thugs.

I have no idea how accurate any of this is, or whether someone is playing political games:

http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/us-moves-nuclear-weapons-from-turkey-to-romania/

EXCLUSIVE/ Two independent sources told EurActiv.com that the US has started transferring nuclear weapons stationed in Turkey to Romania, against the background of worsening relations between Washington and Ankara .

According to one of the sources, the transfer has been very challenging in technical and political terms.

“It’s not easy to move 20+ nukes,” said the source, on conditions of anonymity.

According to a recent report by the Simson Center, since the Cold War, some 50 US tactical nuclear weapons have been stationed at Turkey’s Incirlik air base, approximately 100 kilometres from the Syrian border.

During the failed coup in Turkey in July, Incirlik’s power was cut, and the Turkish government prohibited US aircraft from flying in or out. Eventually, the base commander was arrested and implicated in the coup. Whether the US could have maintained control of the weapons in the event of a protracted civil conflict in Turkey is an unanswerable question, the report says.

Another source told EurActiv.com that the US-Turkey relations had deteriorated so much following the coup that Washington no longer trusted Ankara to host the weapons. The American weapons are being moved to the Deveselu air base in Romania, the source said.

Deveselu, near the city of Caracal, is the new home of the US missile shield, which has infuriated Russia.

More Turkish delight:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-17/leaked-doc-germany-accuses-erdogan-supporting-and-financing-terrorist-groups

In Leaked Doc, Germany Accuses Erdogan Of Supporting And Financing Terrorist Groups

Tyler Durden's picture
by Tyler Durden
Aug 18, 2016 3:01 AM
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While it will come as no surprise to readers of this site, which last year first revealed that Turkey was a key financial backer of the Islamic State, exchanging ISIS oil for cold, hard (USD) cash, it now appears that the Germans have finally caught up, after a leaked internal government document accused the Turkish government of supporting terrorist organizations such as Hamas, public broadcaster ARD reported yesterday. The leaked report, which just a year ago would have been called, what else - a tinfoil conspiracy theory - states the German government’s belief that Ankara has been deliberately financing Islamist and terror organizations with the direct consent of President Recep Erdogan....etc

Thanks, LL, that's interesting. I have no idea what the truth is with the nuclear warheads in Turkey - that's way, way above my pay grade! - but it would make sense to move them out. I really don't think it's a good idea to leave them inside an authoritarian islamic state allied with the US's rivals in the area.

I am not saying that that rivalry is good or bad, just that it would be bad practice to leave them there...

Well as Romania is in NATO - joined in 2014 .... LL

https://www.rt.com/news/356380-turkey-russia-military-nato/

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has lashed out at NATO, saying the alliance is not fully cooperating with Ankara. In an interview with Sputnik, he hinted that Turkey would consider military cooperation with Russia.
Cavusoglu says that Ankara has become alarmed at the lack of willingness shown by NATO to cooperate with Turkey, which is a member of the alliance.

"It seems to us that NATO members behave in an evasive fashion on issues such as the exchange of technology and joint investments. Turkey intends to develop its own defense industry and strengthen its defense system,” he said in an interview with Sputnik.

“In this sense, if Russia were to treat this with interest, we are ready to consider the possibility of cooperation in this sector," Cavusoglu said when asked about the possibility of working with Russia in the defense sphere.

It is Cavusoglu’s strongest rebuke of NATO to date. In an interview with the Anadolu news agency on August 10, he said that Turkey and Russia would look to establish a joint military, intelligence, and diplomatic mechanism, while adding that relations with NATO were not as satisfactory as he would have wished.

“Turkey wanted to cooperate with NATO members up to this point,” he said. “But the results we got did not satisfy us. Therefore, it is natural to look for other options. But we don’t see this as a move against NATO,” he told Anadolu.

Meanwhile, a week ago, the Turkish ambassador to Russia, Umit Yardim, said NATO has no right to dictate foreign policy to Ankara.

“In no way can NATO limit our contacts with other countries... It means NATO has no right to dictate its terms and tell us who we should or should not meet and communicate with,” Yardim said on August 11, as cited by RIA Novosti.

The warming of relations between Turkey and Russia, which were previously at a low after a Turkish warplane shot down a Russian warplane over Syria in November, has led to apprehension in the West....etc.

Frankly, IMO the West should have been 'apprehensive' a very long time ago, and should NEVER have trusted Turkey - in Merkel's case, fawning over Erdogan.

One look at a map should have told them how dangerous that was, and so should history. I assume they decided that being able to threaten the old Soviet Union's underbelly was worth it.

bb1 wrote:Thanks, LL, that's interesting. I have no idea what the truth is with the nuclear warheads in Turkey - that's way, way above my pay grade! - but it would make sense to move them out. I really don't think it's a good idea to leave them inside an authoritarian islamic state allied with the US's rivals in the area.

I am not saying that that rivalry is good or bad, just that it would be bad practice to leave them there...

The US will never leave them behind.

Not even Obama?