Q: are we not MENA? A: we are the rolling middle east, north africa and other geopolitical hot spots thread 2016!

I could just walk down to any one of a dozen local shops, they're bound to be watching it on TV there.

... ask them to tell me what's going on.

One of the main Turkish papers is reporting a helicopter gunship has opened fire on something, though nobody knows what.

Gulenists get blamed for everything so take that with a pinch of salt.

Shi... Turkey's PM is calling it a coup, on NTV...

Xp that's why I added 'pro Erdogan paper' ShariVari

PM Yikdirim says the attempt doesn't amount a military coup but that there are some groups in military "behaving irresponsibly"

Oh, Sky has it.

... BBC lagging behind as usual.

"Action being taken without chain of command"

The UN internal messaging is that the Air Force and Military Police are attempting a coup.

State broadcaster TNT taken over by military. Dang.

TRT, soz

crazy

If it actually is the Gulenists this time, we'll never hear the end of it...

Still nothing on BBC, they are useless. Sky on the story.

Television absolutely useless. Beeb not live yet, CNN immediately talking about "how this affects US foreign policy"...

Ataturk Airport supposedly under control of army faction.

Erdogan is not in Turkey btw, but in Mongolia on some business trip.

what will putin be making of this?

Breaking: Armed forces just broadcasted they have "taken control of the country"

Holy fucking shit.

Statement by military read out on Turkish tv: to again obtain constitutional democratic hum rights we are officially managing the country."

yay another night of not going to bed and watching the news

I wonder if Boris regretting accepting that Foreign Secretary role.

lol

The military announcement was apparently unsigned, which some are taking to mean it's a coup of lower-ranking officers.

Erdogan has been preparing for this for years and i'd expect him to still have some of the military and the majority of the security forces onside. He also has a huge chunk of the country backing him. This is not a good combination.

AKP mayors and senior MPs are calling people out on to the streets.

out *on* to the streets? as in the opposite of curfew?

party

To protest (xp) Not me, brother.

xp, yes, they want a popular uprising against the military uprising, probably calculating that Kemalist rebels won't fight civilians.

Army Chief Of Staff has been taken hostage, so it's a coup against the top brass as well as the government.

Most of the senior officers are loyal to Erdogan, having replaced the ones he kicked out in anticipation of a coup. If he hangs on, i can't see him not doubling down on the centralisation of power and purging of military / Gulenist influences. He's going to come out of it looking justified.

he kinda is tho right? i don't like him at all but he was elected legitimately and the army should be subservient to the civilian government even if they think they have a really really good reason for deposing the leader.

man this is crazy

cautiously optimistic but idk

https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/754051565695238146

#BREAKING TURKISH JUSTICE MINISTER SAYS US-BASED IMAM FETHULLAH GULEN'S FOLLOWERS IN MILITARY ATTEMPTING TO SEIZE POWER

One of the Turkish news agencies is reporting that Erdogan is on his way to Ataturk airport, which would be a twist.

Coup statement just read aloud on TRT: curfew in place and "new constitution"

did you expect him to just hang out in Mongolia

xp

Ataturk Airport is reportedly under occupation.

If he hangs on, i can't see him not doubling down on the centralisation of power and purging of military / Gulenist influences. He's going to come out of it looking justified.

I just heard a suggestion that this might be a faux coup to create exactly this effect

lol this would be a pretty extreme false flag operation

xp false flag operation, eh? I'd be skeptical

i feel like he'd much prefer to centralize slowly + deliberately like has been the ongoing process rather than create all these conditions for instability to the regime

That wouldn't be extreme at all for someone like Erdogan tbh

I know Turkey is pretty o_0 at the best of time but that seems a bit too farfetched.

Not that I think it is a false flag coup, but cmon, it's Erdogan

Where I said "new constitution" I probably meant martial law. Curfew is nationwide.

a false flag coup attempt also seems crazily short-sighted in light of his recently moderated foreign policy stance and the whole trying to join the EU thing, and would require a shitload of conspirators all in on it

Yeah, I think EU accession is on the back burner for a while.

Turkey needs to demonstrate some level of stability at the moment for business / investment reasons. A coup attempt torpedoes that. I can't see Erdogan pulling it.

doesnt this need its own thread?

a distant cousin lives in istanbul

https://www.reddit.com/live/x9gf3donjlkq

bridges are closed

Some bloke on Sky talking this up as proper countrywide coup not just some junior officers acting up in Istanbul and Ankara. Sounds like he's enjoying it all a bit too much though.

ime many journalists get a huge thrill from big stories even when tragic and often strike a pose of somberness when in front of cameras. when i worked in newsrooms i heard the darkest most disturbing humor probably ever.