Turkey had lively times at the late hours of 15th July. Sporadic fighting was reported from several regions of Turkey, especially in Istanbul and Ankara. Imams recited azan over and over in unusual times during both late hours of night and early hours of morning as a message to public. As a result, public took to the streets almost in whole country. People tried to lynch the soldiers on the Bosporus bridges; military units narrowly escaped a lynching attempt. Here’s what happened in Turkey at this long night.
22.00
Bosporus bridges of Istanbul were crossed by military units. Simultaneously, aircrafts were flying low over the capital of Turkey, Ankara. Conflicts were reported around Presidency of General Staff in the capital.
22.15
Entry into and exit from both Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen Airports were closed by tanks of military units. Military units disarmed police officers who are in duty in these airports.
23.00
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım made a statement and said “It’s a coup attempt”
23.44
Hulusi Akar who is the Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces was captured by a group of military personnel.
23.48
Telecast of TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Association) blacked out.
23.50
Military Units were deployed around Taksim Square.
00.05
Coup Manifesto was read on TRT (Turkish Radio and Television Association)
00.25
President Erdoğan made a statement about coup attempt and said ” I invite our nation to streets in order to stand against this coup attempt”.
00.45
Turkish Armed Forces published the Coup Manifesto on its official website.
01.00
Soldiers partially got away from Atatürk Airport. People started gathering in front of the entrance of Atatürk Airport.
01.20
A statement was published on in the name of Turkish Armed Forces on its official website, and a curfew was declared.
01.27
Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces made a statement and said ” As the command echelon, we do not accept this coup attempt. The coup attempt was not initiated within the knowledge of the command echelon.”
02.00
Department of Police Special Forces in Ankara got hit by military units, which resulted in loss of 17 officers’ lives.
02.02
A helicopter associated with coup attempt in Ankara was shut down by F-16 warplanes.
02.30
According to the information received, top government officials announced that the coup attempt was rebuffed.
02.38
Turkish Grand National Assembly and buildings of Service Commands were hit by a military helicopter, and left black smoke behind.
02.54
Aircrafts were flying low over the centre of Istanbul. Sonic Boom effect of warplanes led to panic in Istanbul residents.
03.08
Warplanes hit Turkish Grand National Assembly building again. According to information received, some of those who were in building during the attack got wounded.
03.30
A group of military units busted the building of Doğan Media Centre, and blacked out the telecast of CNN Turk.
03.36
Assembly was hit three times in an hour by warplanes and helicopters. Also, it is reported that the conflicts were ongoing around the buildings of Assembly and Grand Staff.
04.00
President Erdoğan made a second statement and evaluated the situation, and repeated his invitation to public about taking to the streets. In the same minutes, military units’ next target was the hotel where President Erdoğan was taking his vacation in Antalya. Soldiers attacked the the hotel; however, Erdoğan had already left the hotel before military units came.
05.10
Soldiers in the Doğan Media Centre surrendered and were arrested by police officers.
05.18
Military units completely got away from Atatürk Airport.
05.27
Gölbaşı Attorney Generalship stated that 47 people lost their lives in Ankara during the attack to Department of Police Special Forces. 17 out of 47 victims were police officers.
07.10
Military units on the Bosporus bridges surrendered to police. People tried to lynch the soldiers. Soldiers narrowly escaped a lynching attempt thanks to police officers.
08.10
The building of General Staff was taken from coup-supportive military units.
11.08
According to the announcement of Ümit Dündar, deputy chairman of General Staff, 41 police officers, 2 soldiers as well as 47 Turkish citizens lost their lives, and 1154 people got wounded. 104 military personnel working for the attempted coup were killed, and 1563 military personnel were arrested in concern with coup attempt.
11.58
Turkish Parliamentary Speaker İsmet Kahraman stated that the Turkish Grand National Assembly is going to be holding an extraordinary meeting at 15.00 on 16th July.
Born and raised in Istanbul where I’m a medical student at YeditepeUniversity.