I think I missed something... what precipitated today's coup? I think I missed exactly what put them over the edge..

Generally it seems a reaction against a creeping Islamisation, along with repression of the press and political dissidents, all against Ataturk's original plan for a secular state. And squashed within a few hours. I hope they manage to find a way to turn back the trend towards a totalitarian and rogue state that Erdogan has put in motion over the last few years, democratically voted in or not. And no place to even be considered by the EU for membership unless that happens.

The military, or a large faction of it, attempted a coup. Martial law and a curfew was declared. Turkish citizens disagreed with that. They swarmed into the streets and blocked the military vehicles from moving. They turned the airport in Istanbul into a pedistrian mall and sat en masse on the runways. They controlled the airport, not the military.

Satguru's reply as to the why of the coup is pure speculation on his part. The coup has failed. None of those who attempted the coup have yet to give an interview as to the reason they attempted the coup.

BBC News were just reporting that it was a rebellion against the President, particularly his attempts to eliminate freedom of speech. Another reporter was saying people in Turkey are generally unhappy at their foreign policy because they have a large number of refugees living there now. And they're unhappy about other things like the economy. I don't know which if these is the main reason but I assume they're all contributing.

The translation I heard of Erdawon's speech from a British CNN program was that an assassination attempt (a bomb) was set off in his holiday hotel and an Imam of a popular Islamic brotherhood sect in exile in the USA had claimed responsibility for the bomb. The military officers and soldiers in the coup were followers of that Imam. The coup failed because the couple of hundred officers could not convince the rest of the military and the great many policemen to join their cause.

Will Obama turn the Imam over for international war crimes to Erdawon? Probably not. To Obama there is no such thing as Extreme Islamic Terror Rebels.

The sad part is that the reported death toll from all the action is over 1,100 human beings.

The International press is reporting deaths under 300, BBC says 161, so who is saying that it's over 1,100?

Over 1,100 casualties sorry, = over 1,000 injured + over 100 deaths (only the grim reaper knows the true numbers). Many more deaths to come since 700 arrested are going to be charged with treason, a death penalty crime.

Still sad...

I was just reporting what I heard on the radio. Not being there I wasn't able to report their motives directly.

The correspondent for the ABC (our government-subsidised broadcaster) reported that Erdawon accused the Islamic cleric currently in the USA of being responsible for the coup, not that he had claimed responsibility himself. Of course, that was 8 hours ago on the morning news before I left for work - a lot could have happened since then!

Did anyone else see the theory that it was staged by Erdogan himself - perhaps as a show of strength?

"Who the heck decided to give the guy a Peace Prize, anyway?"
One of the great questions of this century. He hadn't achieved a single Nobel-worthy thing, but I heard that it was awarded for what they hoped he would do. Perhaps the prizes need a new category: Potential.

Yes - I saw that theory, too. It's interesting - especially reading that 15,000 people in the educational system are now being purged. Surely there couldn't have been that many people involved in the failed coup? Seems like just an excuse to get rid of anyone who isn't a close supporter...