This sign reads: “We are the Turkish nation and we are against terrorism and the coup.”
Displayed from every other light pole and bus stop advertising billboard throughout the infamous city of Istanbul, these proclamations contain a meaning and story that’s much more complex than just what they say.
These words allude to a new era for Turkey, a new chapter in their already-longstanding history. This time is critical for the nation, and the decisions that are being made hold very real consequences for their future and possibly the world’s future. This is history in the making.
I’m here to give you the behind-the-scenes scoop from eyewitnesses and people who were in Istanbul and Ankara while it happened whom we had the pleasure of getting to know during our time there. But I’ll start with what you may already remember.
You may remember how, on the night of the 15th of July, Turkey’s military attempted to take control of the government. If you watched the news, you saw the media broadcast pictures of machine guns and tanks rolling down the city streets of Istanbul, hearing gun shots being fired, the Istanbul bridge being blocked off. The military were headed for the capital and Turkey’s President, Erdogan (he escaped their grasp). What you may or may not remember is that the coup, as powerful and with as much artillery as it involved, was unsuccessful. The military failed to overthrow the government, and it resulted in 240 people killed and hundreds of military members from all ranks being put behind bars that very night.
But here’s some inside info you probably haven’t been aware of: why the coup failed, who the President and a man named Fethullah Gülen are, how they fit into the puzzle and what has happened in Turkey as a result of the coup. I’ll share some of the facts concerning each of those that are CRUCIAL.
1. WHY DID THE COUP FAIL?
If you’re unfamiliar with the events of that night, take a look at this short video that decently depicts the timeline of what happened the night of July 15th in Ankara:
The reason the coup failed was because of the Turkish people. They took to the streets upon Erdogan’s Facetime request, pushing military troops back and even forcing huge tanks to retreat as the people did their “democratic duty”. 142 military members and 100 civilians were killed that night in the debacle.
Every night for a month after the coup, thousands of Turkish people would meet in Ankara’s city center square, called Kizilay. I took this somewhat blurry picture of the square on our first journey there.
If you’re wondering, during the day it’s quite a normal and safe-ish place. And at night, parents take their kids to the demonstrations where the government provides free food and live entertainment…it’s like a giant block party meant to celebrate Turkey.
I did say “meant” there. We heard from an American who had gone to one of the demonstrations that it felt more like a celebration of Islam than of Turkey (the country is currently 98% Muslim and Islamism – an Islamic political system that dictates the government – is on the rise so for the American to say that makes sense).
This picture from one corner of the square depicts a white-robed mannequin hanging by a noose. The face attached to the front of the mannequin is a man named Fethullah Gülen…
2. WHO ARE TAYYIP ERDOGAN (pronounced err-doo-ahn) AND FETHULLAH GÜLEN? WHAT ROLE DO THEY ALLEGEDLY HAVE IN THE COUP ATTEMPT?
Tayyip Erdogan is a key player in writing Turkey’s story. I’ll try to depict this in as objective a light as I possibly can but may still let slip a few words here or there.
Erdogan, Turkey’s current President, has been a very well-liked politician in Turkey for decades. In the past, he’s been the Mayor of Istanbul (1994-1998), the Prime Minister of Turkey for 2 terms (from 2003-2014) and was voted President in 2014 with a 52% majority vote. He’s made a lot of connections to other very important Turkish diplomats and personnel in all of that time and, to this day, remains the favorite in the eyes of the Turkish majority.
One of the men Erdogan met during his time in the government was Muhammad Fethullah Gülen, a nationalistic Muslim man who promotes inter-faith dialogue, religious tolerance and multiparty democracy. He is known to have founded the Gülen Movement among supporters. The “Gülen Movement” stands for all of the things I just stated along with science and technology advancement. It has been said that the number of people involved in the movement is incalculable as it has influences in many sectors of Turkish society (police, education, politics, media) as well as all around the world. In 1999, Gülen emigrated to the US and currently resides in Pennsylvania, but his influence in Turkey has not only remained but spread.
Why does this matter?? Up until 2013, Gülen and Erdogan were allies with the same goal, but after a corruption scandal surfaced, exposing Gülen as a potential enemy of “the state” (meaning an enemy of Erdogan and his political hunt for power) Gülen placed on Turkey’s “most wanted terrorists” list.
WHAT ROLE DO THESE MEN ALLEGEDLY HAVE IN THE COUP ATTEMPT?
There are many theories about who is ultimately behind the coup (you may have heard the one about Erdogan planning it himself as a means to give himself more power), but the theory believed by many of the Turkish people spread by President Erdogan is that Gülen had planned the coup. They proclaim him to have assembled members of the Gülen Movement and it’s extensive support chain within Turkey’s military and police forces and called them to take action.
3. WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN TURKEY AS A RESULT OF THE COUP?
So much.
The same night of the coup, hundreds of military and policemen who took part in the coup were arrested. Since then, that number had increased from hundreds to thousands. Erdogan has been arresting everyone he believes is in cahoots with Gülen without needing any sort of evidence. Everyone means tens of thousands of people (the current count is up to 35,000 detained, 17,000 arrested and 81,400 fired or suspended from their jobs…CLICK HERE for more of a breakdown of these numbers and what they mean). Education workers, medical professionals, judicial officers, military members, journalists…all let go or suspended from working. Schools have been shut down in countless cities right before the start of Fall semester. Hospitals have closed, forcing patients out to seek aid elsewhere.
The numbers of people they are wanting to put in jail is so great they have had to let go thousands of previously condemned criminals to make room for the “terrorists”. Gulen has floated up to Turkey’s #1 most wanted terrorist and governmental officials are putting more pressure on the United States to hand him over with every day. The US has refused.
The effects of the coup have been so widespread and complete that it has disrupted almost every sector of Turkish society. So much so that Erdogan declared a few days after the attempt that the country was to be in a 90-day “state of emergency”. In this state of emergency, which the country is not yet halfway through, Erdogan has been given more executive power to arrest anyone who is suspected to be against himself and his presidency. He is also using his power to try to bring back the death penalty in Turkey, citing countries that have it in place as examples (the US and China).
Side note: Because Gülen has high ranking military connections, many of the privates were ordered by their CO’s to take part in the coup against their will and not knowing what was going on.
After our time in Ankara, we set off to spend a couple nights in Istanbul, the other city where significant coup events happened. There were very little visible effects that we could see, but one instance made it all too real.
On our way to the Istanbul airport, our taxi van driver, Ceyhun, pointed to the 2-lane divided road we were driving on. “This is where the tanks drove the night of the darbe (meaning coup). This is where the citizens met the tanks and engaged them. Over there,” he guestured to what we assumed to be a military building, “is where they drove from.” The scene became very vivid in my minds’ eye as I recalled seeing news images depicting tanks driving down roads similar to the one we were on.
There was another time back in Ankara I will never forget hearing about either. It made the seriousness of the time be brought close to home even moreso than driving on the road in Istanbul.
While still in Ankara, a few of our American friends went to a city near the Georgia border called Kars to scope out ministry potential. They were pulled over for a random search late one night and interrogated by 3-4 nationalist policemen. These officers wanted to know everything about our friends and see everything they had. The men were aggressive, asking about where they are from and making reference to Pennsylvania and Gülen. Our friends opened their bags repeatedly, going through personal items, requiring them to go onto their Facebook pages and opening our ministry contact’s notebook.
Somewhere in all of that, they realized our friends were a bunch of Christians.
By this time, there were 10-15 police cars gathered around, and there was talk of a prosecutor needing to be called. Our friends were put into police cars and driven to the police station for further interrogation. When they arrived, they were put into a room. Nobody said a word for 30 minutes while people were making phone calls out in the hall. After the 30 min, a man entered the room and announced they did not have any incriminating evidence against our friends and they were free to go. And so they were taken back to their rental car and drove off to the house they were staying in.
Our team was invited to go with our friends to Kars and we would have gone if it hadn’t been so far away and cost so much to fly. Kind of crazy.
But this is the reality of Turkey right now! Erdogan continues to gain more and more power in the name of the people and of democracy, a situation not entirely unfamiliar to Hitler’s and Germany’s situation before WW2. The society is being purged and the people are becoming more and more nationalistic, more proud to be Turkish.
I’m not sure what will happen in the future, but Turkey’s entire country is seeing some unsettling changes and events. And unless Erdogan begins to give up power, which seems unlikely at this point, the future of Turkey may be a ruthless dictatorship unknowingly backed by the people themselves. It may even, down the road, result in war.
This is purely speculation, of course, but to ignore the progression of events thus far (regardless of who plotted the coup in the first place) is to remain dangerously ignorant.
WHAT CAN YOU DO AND SHOULD DO?
No matter what happens or doesn’t happen, please pray for this country whether you believe in God or not. Pray not just for this country but as if you are a citizen of it yourself (something our host imparted to us during out time in Turkey). Picture the people. Submerge your heart into the vast sea of feelings and emotions felt by the individuals. One of our contacts mentioned how she feels fear in the air, fear caused by the unknown and lack of trust. Who is on their side now? Who can they talk to? There’s a lot of uncertainty, and I believe they may be learning to live with fear, pride and anger. And we have a chance to “stand in the gap” for them and for their future.
Remember the sign at the beginning? I invite you to look at it again, and take time to really hear the heart behind the words. You won’t want to miss it.
“We are the Turkish nation and we are against terrorism and the coup.”
