| Hakim Hayat |
BRUNEIANS in Turkey are reportedly safe following a failed military coup attempt that has claimed more than 250 lives overnight, mostly civilians in the country’s capital Ankara and iconic city Istanbul.
In an e-mailed statement to the Sunday Bulletin yesterday, Mohammad Salleh Md Jaafar of the Brunei Embassy in the Republic of Turkey in Ankara said all Bruneians registered with the embassy are accounted for following the coup bid that has left Ankara and Istanbul in a lockdown.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities said they had regained control of the country after thwarting a coup attempt by discontented soldiers to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan urged his backers to stay on the streets to prevent a possible “flare-up” of Friday’s chaos in the strategic NATO member state of 80 million people.
The military had earlier claimed victory and put in place a martial law, a claim that the government strongly dismissed later on.
The Brunei Embassy in Ankara said it will continue to monitor any developments on the situation and urged Bruneians who need assistance and further information to contact the embassy hotline at +90 533 032 5454 or directly the embassy official at +90 534 081 5214.
People wave national flags as they march in protest against a military coup attempt in Ankara yesterday. – AFP
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim gives a press conference outside the Cankaya Palace in Ankara, on July 16. – AFP
This picture taken on July 16 shows a tank stucks on a median strip as Turkish police officers walk around it after they took over a military position at the Anatolian side at Uskudar in Istanbul. – AFP
According to the embassy, there are currently seven Bruneian tourists in Turkey who are registered with the embassy and all of them have been contacted. The three Bruneian students in Turkey are back in Brunei now for their semester break, the embassy informed.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Brunei Darussalam confirmed in a statement that what unfolded in Turkey was a coup attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government. “This attempt was foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity.
“The Turkish armed forces were not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety and it was conducted by a clique within the armed forces and received a well deserved response from our nation,” added the statement.
With at least 2,839 soldiers already detained in a relentless round-up over the coup plot, the authorities blamed the conspiracy on Erdogan’s arch enemy, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turks woke up early Saturday to television pictures showing dozens of soldiers surrendering after the apparent failure of the coup, some with their hands above their head, others forced to the ground in the streets.
“The situation is completely under control,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey’s top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.
Meanwhile, world leaders expressed support for Turkey and its democratic institutions.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey’s “democratic elected government and institutions” in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.
NATO’s chief said all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are “safe and secure” following the attempted coup.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a Twitter post that he had spoken to NATO’s supreme commander, US Army General Curtis M Scapparrotti, who “confirms that all NATO personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure.”
Spain’s acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo condemned the attempted coup, telling Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish Government headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Italy’s foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni, in a phone conversation with Mevlut Cavusoglu, expressed “satisfaction that popular mobilisation and defence of the institutions prevailed” in Turkey, according to a statement from the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said “democratic institutions should be respected in Turkey.”
“We strongly hope that the situation will return to normal and that order and peace will be restored as soon as possible,” he said in a statement. – (With Input From Agencies)
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