Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport Saturday morning and declared the attempted coup against his government to be a failure, but also a “gift from God.” The coup attempt sent Turkey into a state of chaos and left more than 160 people dead and more than 1,100 injured, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
The uprising was “an act of treason” carried out by a minority within the military, Erdogan said.”Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end,” Erdogan said. “We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.”
Erdogan lashes out at Obama after failed coup: Turkish leader urges the President to arrest cleric accused of orchestrating uprising from lavish Pennsylvania mansion
Fethullah Gulen has been blamed for the failed coup attempt that killed at least 250 people and wounded more than 1,500. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government is blaming the chaos on Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and promotes the moderate Hizmet Islamic movement that advocates democracy and secular institutions and is popular with Turkey's upper classes.
Gulen has denied any involvement in the uprising and harshly condemned the attempted coup by military officers that resulted in a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire.
The Obama administration said it would entertain an extradition request for Gulen if Turkey's government can prove Gulen's wrongdoing, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday. The 75-year-old cleric left Turkey in 1999 just ahead of a treason charge.
'I call on the United States and President Barack Obama,' Erdogan said in Istanbul late Saturday, according to the New York Times.
Gulen was also blamed for coordinating damaging corruption allegations that targeted senior ministers as well as Erdogan's son, Bilal, in 2013. Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul overnight Friday, blocking key bridges.
From a cellphone, he delivered a televised address that called for huge crowds to come out and defend Turkey's democracy - which they did in Ankara, the capital, and in Istanbul, facing off against troops who had blocked key Bosporus bridges that link the city's Asian and European sides
Groups of soldiers reportedly surrendered at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers. On Saturday morning Erdogan used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment.' Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.
