Unfolding Turkey’s Failed Coup
Unfolding Turkey’s Failed Coup Abdulazim Mohamad | Al Jazeera Bureau Chief – Turkey
I could not have cared less when I heard that Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge was shut down on the night of July 15, 2016. I was having the traditional Turkish chai with my colleague, Omar Al Haj, in the bustling historic Fatih district. “It is the daily routine traffic jam,” I said to myself. A minute later, I received a phone call from one of my colleagues. “Army tanks have been deployed and shut off traffic on the bridge,” he said. Without hesitation, we headed towards the Al Jazeera bureau near Taksim Square. As we approached the office, the picture was getting clearer: the army had seized control of bridges and other main roads across Istanbul. We both started to summon all of the bureau staff to report to the office immediately. By the time we arrived, every one was there, even a journalist who had cut short his annual leave and reported to the office. It was now confirmed: the army was attempting a coup d’état against President Erdogan and his government. As usual, and without delay, Al Jazeera started an open-ended coverage of the event.
By the time I called our fellow journalists in the capital, Ankara, they were already on the street monitoring any movement or military manifestation. I telephoned our late colleague Omar Khashram, may he rest in peace, who was on an assignment in Ordu, in the northwest of Turkey. He was already in a cab on his way back to Ankara, since the army had shut down all airports, leaving planes grounded. Quickly, I sketched out a coverage plan, deploying Omar Al Haj with a cameraman to Taksim Square, where the army’s presence was heaviest; while Al Mutaz Billah was assigned to the Parliament building, which had already been shelled from the air by the coup plotters. Amer Lafi took a live position at the Al Jazeera studio in Istanbul. The sentiment prevailing on the street was that the army had seized control of the country’s strategic institutions, particularly in Istanbul. The coup plotters invaded the state TRT television studios and aired their first statement. Our colleague in Taksim Square informed me that the army personnel deployed in the area seemed very confident and relaxed; a sign that the coup had succeeded.
The pro-government and anti-coup Turkish armed forces started to move, but their moves were confused. An Arabic-speaking news station claimed that the Turkish President had fled in a private plane to Germany. The Al Jazeera presenter asked Amer Lafi, stationed in the Istanbul studio, if this was true. “This piece of news is not confirmed yet. In addition, it is not released from any local media here in Turkey,” he replied.
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