Democracy on hold: A timeline of the coup attempt in Turkey

TURKEY MILITARY COUP — Relatives mourn over the death of their loved ones during the failed military coup against Turkey’s government Istanbul. (Photo: AP Images)

Turkey is trying to pick itself up after one of the hardest stretch’s in country’s history

Turkey has been front page news for many newspapers all around the world this summer. Multiple terrorist attacks, including the tragic attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport where 45 citizens and three perpetrators died, have occurred. Tragedy is even greater in the east of the country. Multiple attacks to military and police vehicles caused hundreds of police and soldiers to become victims to terrorist attacks.

All these attacks have set dark clouds on Turkey. Constant bad news and terrorist threats caused a state of distress. The country received its most shocking news on the high of July 15.

Around ten p.m., military tanks blocked the bridges of Istanbul with no announcement. The bridges of Istanbul connect the Asian and European sides of the city. Military vehicles started patrolling some of the major cities in Turkey. At this point, the people of Turkey still did not know what was happening. Ideas and speculations of a possible war or a terror attack started However, some people started suggesting the possibility of a coup.

Around this time, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, Turkey’s second man in charge, made an announcement after the president had declared there had been a “coup d’etat” attempt. A “coup d’etat” attempt means the military was taking action against the current government and forcing them out of power. In his statement, Prime Minister Yildirim, announced that the Turkish government was going to do everything in their power to stop this attempt from succeeding and beat the “enemies of the democracy.”

After the announcement, military planes and helicopters started flying over the city of Istanbul and some other major cities, causing very loud sounds and distress. F16s, members of the opposition, were making sonic sounds and trying to use this to intimidate government supporters from going to the streets. News about military’s first-in-command being arrested by the opposing group rapidly started roaming around.

The fraction of Turkish armed Forces attempting the coup named themselves the Peace at Home Council. They named themselves after the famous quote of Turkey’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Not long after this the fraction had gained the control of TRT, Turkey’s National TV Station, they made an announcement saying they were taking over the country until further notice. The Peace at Home Council stated that the current government was not able to get their duties done and that would put Turkey in constant danger.

President Tayyip Erdogan, who was on holiday in Marmaris during the attack, responded to CNN Turkey via facetime and asked his supporters to go to the streets and protect the democracy.

Around one a.m., the Turkish parliament was bombed by the military. This caused people to go to the streets and take on the soldiers, regardless of the previously curfew set by the military. This caused more than 250 people to die, including both military and citizens.

Around six a.m., President Erdogan announced that the coup attempt failed. The coup attempt was planned and executed by around ten percent of the Turkish military. It changed the view of a lot of Turks towards the military.

More than 250 people died and hundreds were injured. Thousands of soldiers and accomplices of the attempt were arrested. A state of emergency was declared for the entire country for the next three months. All of the military schools were closed, military bases were forced to move out of the cities and all the military hospitals are now under governmental control.

There are still a lot of theories going around about the motives behind the coup, but until there is an official answer, Turkey will remain in this state.