‘A COUP! THERE’S A MILITARY COUP!’ That’s the first I heard last night about events in Istanbul. Since then, things unfolded at lighting speed. A curfew was put in operation, but many rallied against it and took to the streets – in defiance of the coup, it seems, rather than in support of it. I’m in Istanbul, but was been watching what’s happening via foreign media because that’s the best source right now. Outside, gunfire rang through the air. Some reports say 60 have been killed, with several hundred more seriously inured.
President Erdogan had been holidaying in Marmaris, a southern coastal resort, when the tanks started to roll in to Istanbul. There were reports that he’d fled, but no: he turned up back in Istanbul to direct the counter-coup. Since all of this kicked off, news has been patchy and unreliable. Soldiers raided the government TV stations, kicking staff out. Even the recently opened English-language station has been taken off air in Istanbul. Staff
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