Slashdot Mirror
Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube Blocked In Turkey During Reported Coup Attempt (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader writes: In response to an attempted military coup, the Turkish government has reportedly blocked social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. TechCrunch reports: "Turkey Blocks, a Twitter account that regularly checks if sites are being blocked in the country, reported at 1:04 PM Pacific (11:04 PM Istanbul time) that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were all unresponsive, though Instagram and Vimeo remained available." Some Turkish users were able to update their social media accounts likely through a VPN or other anonymizing service. One user posted a video on Twitter that shows what appears to be a fighter jet flying very low over the Turkish capital of Ankara; another user has tweeted a video of a helicopter opening fire in Turkey. The Associated Press reports that Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, has confirmed the coup by a group within Turkey's military. The following statement from the group was reportedly read on local television: "Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and the general security that was damaged. All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue."
UPDATE 7/15/16: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a statement in a FaceTime call to CNN Turk urging Turkish citizens to take to the streets to defend "Turkish democracy." He urges the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports, saying there is no power higher than the power of the people.
UPDATE 7/15/16: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a statement in a FaceTime call to CNN Turk urging Turkish citizens to take to the streets to defend "Turkish democracy." He urges the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports, saying there is no power higher than the power of the people.
*slow clap*
From what I understand, Erdogan is out of the country, so clearly they timed this to prevent him from being up to directly marshal his forces. But it's still not clear as to whether this is a faction of the Army, or the bulk of it. From what I gather, the head of the Armed Forces has been detained, so it does sound like a large portion of the Army is backing the coup.
Something had to give sooner or later. Erdogan had flushed out most of the old guard, but there were likely a lot of mid-rank officers left who probably had pretty strong feelings about AKP. The Army has long viewed itself as the guarantors of Ataturk's reforms, and they've taken out uppety governments before. But to have this happen while ISIS is still merely dancing about Syria and Northern Iraq, and with Syria still a bloody mess, and with refugees flooding the country, well, this is a pretty unique set of circumstances.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
You have to give Ataturk credit. There aren't a lot of secular rulers who have cast as long a shadow as he has.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
If this is a genuine coup, the repercussions are going to be felt across the world. A lot of people might think that Turkey is some backwards country adjacent to Europe but, it's basically the bridge between the Middle East and Europe. It's a modern country with an advanced military and very close ties to almost all western countries. Middle Eastern immigrants almost inevitably travel through Turkey and their policies (for better or worse) play a huge role in determining how that happens. Chaos in Turkey is a BIG FUCKING DEAL. It's practically the worst possible place to have a coup.