It might have been a clever move by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to urge people to the streets to “support democracy” against the coup attempt on Friday… But in several incidents Erdogan’s supporters got out of control: they lynched soldiers, the average foot soldiers who most probably were just obeying orders.
A mob of Erdogan supporters lynched a soldier and cut his throat in ISIS-manner. In a footage (which I do not upload here) the mob is heard to say “throw him over [the bridge].”
The incident took place at 6:40 am at the Bogazici Bridge, one of the two bridges over the Bosporus in Istanbul.
Other soldiers who had surrendered to police had to be protected by the police and escape lynching by the mob.
In another incident, two soldiers are inside an armored vehicle, police is trying to take them out and arrest them, while the public is fighting with police to lynch the soldiers.
#Turkey 2 soldiers inside; Police trying to take them out and arrest, public fighting police to lynch the soldiers https://t.co/9RhOyMrr3L
— Kaan ALKIN (@khankoas) July 16, 2016
A video shows mob violence against a soldier in a tank and how the soldier is pulled to safety by police.
When so-called “Democracy defenders” turn into a lynching mob there is something wrong with this ‘democracy’.
Scenes this morning of soldiers surrendering after the failed coup attempt in Turkey by the great @gomalak pic.twitter.com/CttYxl3vHz
— Bette Lynch (@BetteMLynch) July 16, 2016
Some pictures circulating on internet even by well-known Turkish websites show the body of a decapitated soldier, another one shows what it looks to be the body of another soldier killed by the bloodthirsty mob. I must stress that the pictures remind me so damned much of the lynch that took place in Libya while dictator Qaddafi was been taking down.
The Istanbul correspondent of the Guardian notes in his report from the Bosporus Bridges:
“Many of those who stayed overnight had bloodlust for those who tried to drag Turkey back into its coup-splattered past; the army ousted four different civilian governments between 1960 and 1997, an era that many hoped had ended.
“They should be executed straightaway,” Dundar said as he walked triumphantly from the bridge, minutes after it was finally reopened. “For the safety of all of us they need to be executed.”
“Execution” and “Revenge”. These are the magic words, also used by President Erdogan (“he traitors, those responsible will take the lesson they deserve, they’ll pay a heavy price”), while there are first thoughts to revive the death penalty in Turkey for those who tried to topple the islamic, neo-ottoman regime. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told rpeorters at a presser Saturday noon, that they were considering legal ways to re-impose the death penalty,
I would also add “r…regime of a country that wants to be EU member” but what EU of values and human rights would we talk about?
On the other hand, bloodlust is maybe an expected reaction among those who have been suppressed for decades. Either by a dictator or by a regime that forbade them expressing their religion or by a social elite that treated them with arrogance. And these suppressed people suddenly got the power and the blessing of the country’s president.
Orders to a coup in a democracy are void and shooting civilians and attacking them by tanks can make very, very aggressive and no-one knows.
To paraphrase what FDR once said about Somoza: “Erdogan may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.” If he hadn’t been our SOB (NATO ally, migrant deal for the EU, surreptitious support of the rebels in Syria, etc.), he wouldn’t have stood a snow flake’s chance in hell to survive the coup even if he was “democratically elected.”
He was elected, true, but he ruled as a ruthless dictator who was proud of his lack of respect to judicial system. Being elected does not make his regime a democratic one, as he himself proudly said “I am not a democrat” so many times. And let’s not forget Hitler was also democratically elected… Such as shame that this failed coup attempt will only give him more power to bring on the presidential system which he wanted too much. Many people are questioning if the coup attempt was real or if it was him who staged it to get what he wanted, including reintroducing death penalty among many other things
true
Erdogan is no supporter of democracy. Like Hitler, and others, he is abusing it for his own despotic ends.
Democracy? A threshold of 10% is very democratic, all votes to parties under 10% takes the winner but still the dog is in heat because the Turkish Syriza (HDP) was over 10.
Erdogan called democracy a train and when it brings him to his destination he simply gets off. There were plenty of warning bells in his own words that he would build a dictatorship and now he will try to restore the Ottoman Empire. You and I the other day spoke of squids and tentacles. Well this guy has plenty of the latter. His ministry of religious affairs controls many mosques in Western Europe. Erdogan supporters in Europe are harassing Turks that not favorable to him and his PM the other day was stoking up things in Bosnia.
Yet, the EU is falling over itself how a democratically elected president that does not behave democratically should be supported. Perhaps they find similarities with him…
Sure, Tsipras was voted by 19.5% only and non-voters are the biggest parties nearly everywhere; also no-one tells the public that in UK only registered voters can vote.
Erdogun supporters could very fast get imprisoned or deported like “PKK” and the Turkish flag should be forbidden as under this flag the genocides happened, not under the Kurdish flag but how will people learn that this is a problem of former colonies; just like in Amerika the Indians, long before Turks Kurds and Armenians lived there and there is simply no reason for national pride bullshit, esp for land-squatters. But also the MHP-Nazis can run around free in Europe, build up Hotel chains and bribe European politicians.
That they control god-smackers madhouses in Europe is not so much the point, it’s more that atheist kids in Turkey need private schools to avoid religion in school or have to convert and here they all work together as Christians are not forced into Islamist religion classes but Atheists in both Europe and in Turkey; this “problem” will find no solution unless religion gets banned until a child is 18 years old and can decide for itself.
What shouldn’t be forgotten is that Turkey and Russia fell in love again and that also direction Syria AKP got more friendly, both just days before Nizza and then the Army closes the bridge to Europe only in one direction
This is his ‘Riechstag’ moment. Why he doesn’t just declare himself Sultan and be done with it God alone knows.
Just wait a while…
It’s called German “Scheisstag”, btw but what you’re about is also the “Roehm-Coup”, when Hitler got rid of the SA as Roehm was deemed too friendly against working class; the big money behind Hitler had a fest.
soldiers surrenders. they need to stay of justice not mass massacre. needs growing other and other generation when slowly roll democracy principles. it is very teriblle pictures. erdogan let those so far. by the way all are moslims so is their way to deal like that. surrender is surrender. turkey other 50 years not ready for europe. mentality and islam. religious people very dangerous people.
Mob action can very fast get a uncontrollable urge, this is the reason why revolutionary groups stay isolated, they don’t like this kind of sick ugly macho or nationalist and/or god-smacked bum-fucks but smart militant actions
Erdogan is mostly supported by religious fanatics and the uneducated, often one and the same. All the young and hip educated Turks I know loathe him. Anyway, he will go brutal on anybody that is not with him. He called this coup a gift from allah. Perhaps a gift to himself?
All the Turks that I know — from young to elderly — want him out of power: they actually loathe and fear this despot. It is the Turkish equivalent of Brexit — where uneducated and poor idiots support nationalist right wing extremism.
Right wing, religious, left wing…all collectivist systems are a danger to both the individual and to humanity.
Yeah, but the question will remain who is more, as parts of the army who did massacres in Adin are death-squats and were playing hymns from Ottoman times out of their tanks, also it was the faction around Davutoglu and the MHP who was questioning the sovereignty of Greek islands.
It’s all too easy, people declare themselves experts regarding coups but have not any idea of how many attempts did happen, see Spain, see Italy where just small groups of soldiers started shit like this in the 80ies.
A think-tank should tell him that he should invent a new flag, as a compromise to EU, and as a sign as the half-moon is the swastika of the genocides.
“Gift from Allah” is translated wrong, he said “favor” and this is again translated wrong by German papers who then translated their shit into English and spread it round the world.
Todays papers are saying that ERDOGAN FAKED THE COUP – it was said to be a – getting rid of the dead wood & a repositioning of power.
Its all very worrying. Turkey has Istanbul and more which are very European however its deeply Islamist elsewhere. Whatever this is all about, its going to enable rather than entitle Erdogan to continue to build his more conservative state. But a silent majority of Turks probably do not want this