Erdogan Vows to Punish Rebels as Leaders Say Coup Foiled

Erdogan will be twice as despotic now. Bloomberg:

Turkey’s leaders said they have quelled an attempted military coup after hours of clashes that saw tanks blockading roads, soldiers fighting police and warplanes bombing the parliament in Ankara.

More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested, the presidency said. In another clear sign the government had gained the upper hand, about 50 rebel soldiers who had been blocking a critical bridge across a waterway in Istanbul, left their tanks and armored carriers with hands raised, according to images broadcast by NTV. About 90 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, state-run media reported.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a speech from Istanbul’s international airport, blamed the plot on followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen. “They will pay a heavy price for their treason,” he said. A group backed by the preacher condemned any military intervention in Turkish domestic politics in a statement on its website.

The attempted coup sought to end the rule of the Islamic-rooted AK Party and Erdogan, whose quest to expand power and crack down on dissent have fueled criticism from international human rights groups and political opponents at home. The group backing the coup said in a statement hours earlier that the president and the ruling party had violated the law by undermining democracy and the country’s secular system.