Turkey quashes coup; Erdogan vows 'heavy price' for plotters

Bush, it's literally been over for hours. How do you think you could possibly have enough reliable information to make any kind of definitive statement about what happened and who was behind it?

Are the two incompatible?

I wouldn't think so. If the Ergodan government was aware of something in the the wind and allowed it to proceed, it would provide a good opportunity to gather intelligence on potential threats. I'd bet that the coup plotters have been on the radar for a while and the rapid reaction by Ergodan's security apparatus would seem to indicate that they had a list in hand before the event.

I don't think it was staged in the sense that it was planned and executed by operatives of the Ergodan regime. I think it was allowed to proceed in order to gather intelligence on "powerful people in Turkey wanting to see Erdogan toppled" and as Commodore Shmidlap (Retired) opined some of the weaker links in the chain got spooked and jumped the gun.

@ CrazyJoe & Burning Bush

What if... Ergodan faked it in order to justify a purge and increased security measures. The whole thing seems a little contrived.

The coup started with military wide coordination but then fizzled with a few thousands soldiers and a handful of officers holding the bag.And Erdogan emerges as the people's hero draped in a flag on national TV amidst the crowd. Staged. Erdogan was never in any real danger and he knew it.

Are you guys serious? The coup was faked? 161 people killed and 1,440 wounded overnight in one the US's most important NATO member allies?

No way any president would allow 2,000 people killed or wounded for a false flag operation to boost their prestige.

SuperLibJUL. 16, 2016 - 10:34PM JST Jeez, it didn't take long for the tinfoil hat army to go from cheering on the coup to claiming the coup itself was a coup. Its been over for a matter of hours and already there's a conspiracy theory. So, so fast.

The Kremlin's internet army must still be getting their orders by Telex hence the delay and the outrageous switch of allegiance from our man just over thirty minutes into the coup. I'm surprised that the US isn't getting blamed - or at least Blackwater mercenaries. I guess when some lose their creative flair it just never returns....

People always go to the Tom Clancy scenarios when they should look to Occam. It wasn't "staged" by anyone but some very jumpy and incompetent military officers. They overplayed their hand. It's happened before plenty of times. That it will inadvertently give Erdogan the very pretext he needs to clamp down on secularism and move towards a more Islamist Turkey is simply his good luck and the rest of the world's bad luck. Not everything has to be plans within plans, and frankly, I don't think Erdogan is capable of pulling of that kind of Hollywood show. He's more like a mallet than an X-Acto blade. And now he's going to hammer Turkey and keep those ISIS people supplied with all the money they need to hang on for a while longer as the US once again muddles and stumbles around without a whit of common sense. What a mess.

Jeez, it didn't take long for the tinfoil hat army to go from cheering on the coup to claiming the coup itself was a coup.

Its been over for a matter of hours and already there's a conspiracy theory. So, so fast.

Turkey is a big mess... The worse is yet to come...

a coup is no way to advance democracy.

Hitler was democratically elected. We all know how that went down.

Burning BushJUL. 16, 2016 - 10:02AM JST Go coup go!

Burning BushJUL. 16, 2016 - 10:34AM JST It's looking increasingly like this "coup attempt" was in fact staged by the Ergodan government themselves as an excuse to crackdown further and purge government institutions of all opposition.

Burning BushJUL. 16, 2016 - 12:08PM JST This coup "attempt" was staged. The Turkish military sacrificed a few sloppy units to give the appearance of a coup.

From our correspondent in Damascus / St Putinsburg

The theory that the coup was staged seems to ignore the fact that there is no shortage of powerful people in Turkey wanting to see Erdogan toppled.

Are the two incompatible?

The theory that the coup was staged seems to ignore the fact that there is no shortage of powerful people in Turkey wanting to see Erdogan toppled.

What if... Ergodan faked it in order to justify a purge and increased security measures. The whole thing seems a little contrived.

No fan of Erdogan, but Turkey should be better than this. The schism in the country is much like the Brexit and Bremain schism in the UK, with older, less educated and rural citizens supporting Erdogan and younger, better educated people demanding more rapid reform and integration with Europe. Of course, I side with the latter, but a coup is no way to advance democracy.

We'll see if Erdogan uses this chance to broaden his appeal or to crack down. Next elections aren't scheduled until 2019. Lots can and will happen between now and then; liberal parties need to step up their game.

Jeez, it didn't take long for the tinfoil hat army to go from cheering on the coup to claiming the coup itself was a coup. Boy their heads must hurt.

Edrogan better get himself a good food taster.

@ Bush, I'd bet money on it. Too bad people had to die, some being purposely run over by tanks

The chaos capped a period of political turmoil in Turkey which critics blamed on Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule, which has included a government shake-up, a crackdown on dissidents and opposition media and renewed conflict in the mainly Kurdish areas of the southeast.

That's the problem. Erdogan may have been democratically elected, he has brought a regime of fear that leaves very few options to the opposition: shut up or take up arms against his regime. If you're not pro Erdogan you're labelled a terrorist. Oldest trick in the book.

https://www.rt.com/news/351345-turkey-coup-military-ankara/

The people of Turkey are taking their country back from the military and from Erdogan. People forget that Turkey citizens are very large physical gold and silver holders from years of large inflation. The people of Turkey hold the wealth and can literally shut down their financial system and have their "banks" on their knees begging in days.

Erdogan probably needs to be thrown under the bus since he supports iSiS, iSiL, "Moderate Rebels" aka McCain's Army aka Syrian "Militia." The theft of oil from Syria did not help either.