Karel Valansi'nin kaleminden...

Since the July 15th coup attempt, Turkey has been struggling to deal with the aftershock. The death toll is huge and the number of injured is pronounced with thousands. The majority of the public have rejected the coup attempt and united in solidarity. In the wake of the attempted coup, Turkey announced a state of emergency and went after the Gülenists, followers of the self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen, as the coup plotters were accused of being linked to him. Concerned over the worrying reports of human rights violations, the US and the EU were mostly preoccupied with the restrictions of freedom of expression and urged to respect the rule of law. As a response, Ankara blamed the West for failing to understand the severity of the situation. Let’s go back to that date. On the night of June 15th, in the length of just a couple of hours, Turkey survived a coup attempt organized by a group from within the country's military. It was as the clocks had ran backwards and we were in th...

We’ve talked with Mr. Soli Ozel, a faculty member at Kadir Has University and a columnist at Haberturk newspaper about West’s attitude following the failed coup attempt on July 15 th ; Turkey’s detente with Russia; and the issue of Gulen’s extradition which directly affects the relationship between Turkey and the U.S. Were you expecting a coup attempt? When you look back today, were there any indicators? When you look back, you find what you’re looking for. According to what I’ve learned afterwards, this was not such an unexpected incident for Ankara. But personally, I wasn’t expecting a coup. I didn’t think that the Gulenists were this strong within the army. How do you see the West’s approach to the coup attempt? Can we call it a lack of empathy? I personally think so. On October 10 th terrorist attack, the ambassadors got together and placed flowers at the scene of attack. That was the right thing to do. They acted similarly after the attack on the Ataturk Airport. On ...

 Despite a claim by US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen that the coup was a ruse by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to crack down on his domestic opponents, evidence so far points to a real coup attempt. Pictures of the destroyed Ankara police headquarters bombed by helicopters, other damaged buildings, and Erdogan breaking down in tears at the funeral of an old friend killed during the chaos appear to demonstrate that the abortive coup was just that – and not an elaborate conspiracy. A senior Turkish official from the presidency slammed rumors of an Erdogan conspired coup.

On Friday night in Turkey, everybody was awake on the streets or at home, frightened of the possible outcomes It was a regular Friday night. I was at the wedding of a close friend in Beykoz on the Anatolian side of Istanbul. A friend of mine sent me a message about an attack at Beylerbeyi Palace where there is a presidential compound that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan uses as an office, very close to where I was. Soldiers had closed the roads, de-armed the police and asked everyone to go home as martial law was declared, they announced. This was the first news that I heard and decided to leave the wedding at an early hour. Something bad was going on.