Hope everything is OK with you Konstantinos, after what was occurring in your city/country last night !
Trust things are settling down now.
We're getting slightly confusing reports over here, so I don't know whether your media are 'back up and running' normally. :-\
Best wishes - Phil.
I was coming on here just to ask the same question, have just heard on the news.
I believe konstantinos is in istanbul, haven't read anything about those regions.
Hmm just read there were shootings and bombings in istanbul,don't know if that's correct, let's hope everything is all right!
It appears that the biggest 'problems' were in Ankara, as far as I can make out, Peter.
Though there (again) appears to have been 'trouble' in Istanbul.
Like you, just hoping that everything is alright with with Konstantinos......I'm 99.9% certain that he lives in Istanbul.
Obviously a very big city....So fingers crossed K was well away from anything.
Cheers - Phil
I'll pop a message on the 19th century facebook sight he runs, might see that faster.
Already got a message back, saying he's fine :-bd
Glad to hear he's fine :). We're due off on holiday there in 3 weeks so are watching things closely...
Hey everyone.
We are ok. Onur, Doruk, Emir and Mehmet have reported in safe.
There was a coup attempt by elements of the army. Indicators is that they were soft-islamists belonging to the Gullenist movement. A source told me that a massive purge of the army from Gullenists was imminent in August so they seem to had jumped the gun.
There was considerable fighting, as the coup members tried to control the streets in the hope that the 1st Army in Istnabul would join. In Ankara there was also fighting. 90-160 dead reported
Jet fighters were making low flights all night over my area and dropping either bombs or sonic bombs. I could here sporadic shooting, and at some point what was clearly a sustained engagement.
The coup has failed, with some soldiers being lynched.
This is a massive victory for the goverment, though the top brass might demand massive payments in influence and power in return for not joining the coup.
That is wonderful to hear that you're OK, Konstantinos !
Keep safe, our friend !
Cheers - Phil
Good to hear your all OK :)
Not so good for Turkey I guess :(
good to hear everyone there is ok Konstantinos.
A failure of a coup by militant religious nutters sounds like pretty good news so far to my ears.
Glad to hear that the others are safe too.
well the set of religious folks that did the coup where doing it against another set of religious folks in power. Gullenists are generally considered less hard-line than the presidential party. It was more infighting in the old winning coalition than anything else. I heard they expected massive purges in August and decided to jump the gun.
There are no good guys here. Every actor has blood on its hand and has run over limited liberal democracy at one point or another. The good thing is no civil war. That is what is the most important thing for now. What follows, we will see.
Stay safe, KT. Glad you and yours are OK.
Good to hear from you KT. Nice to see your article in The Foreign Correspondent.
Thaks Leman. It turned out to be very topical :p
Glad your all ok over there.
Quote from: Steve J on 16 July 2016, 08:44:29 AM
Glad to hear he's fine :). We're due off on holiday there in 3 weeks so are watching things closely...
Steve,
I appreciate last nights violence is concerning, and obviously I don't know what part of the country you are going to, but Mrs Orcs and I went to Kalkan via Dalaman airport last month. Various people questioned why on earth we were going due to bombs etc. I replied that it could happen anywhere - and two days later it did in Brussels airport. It has tragically happened again in Nice. So you are not truly safe anywhere.
We found (as we have before) that everyone is polite friendly and helpful.
It was very sad to see how few tourist were not there. Rows of restaurants, with NO CUSTOMER S at 13.00 One place we ate said the best day the previous week he had sold 38 meals. We went on a days Canoe outing and their were only 4 paying customers. Despite this We were well looked after, treated like life long friends and at the BBQ midday were constantly asked if we wanted more to eat. They did not try to skimp on anything despite the total takings for his days work (plus 2 other staff) and the BBQ being less than £50.
The advice on the government website has not changed much since we went, and is mainly common sense -
Obviously you need to watch what happens now, but if you can see to going, the normal people of Turkey could do with our support.
Orcs
Glad everyone is okay. :)
Quote from: KTravlos on 16 July 2016, 09:39:37 AM
We are ok. Onur, Doruk, Emir and Mehmet have reported in safe.
Very glad to hear this :)
While ISIS and TAK bombs are a threat, they are a calculated risk no more high than the chance of getting hit by a car. I am not going to lie and say its safe. But it is also not Syria (As long as you stay away from the East of the country. That is a full out war there).
I think the political game is going to quite. The coup was a last hurrah of a losing part of the old winning coalition, and the old army Kemalists and Goverment have cut a deal. So barring extraordinary things, I expect political stability for the next decade. Its not going to be nice, but it will be relatively peaceful.
Of course if IS is defeated in Syria-Iraq it might enter Turkey, so things might get bad. But we are taking 3-5 years down the path, and beyond the rare bombing, western Turkey is safe.
We fly into Bodrum and then off to Altinkum/Didim. Given recent events and having lived in nigeria for 5 years, I know that no-where is safe. Cycling to work each days is way more dangerous than going to Turkey! I know our family will be more concerned than us when we are there, so it's more a case of assuring them that things will be fine.
Just seen that 15,200 education staff suspended/sacked by the Turkish government :o. Hope all ok with K Travlos?
No idea. I did get a recent op-ed publication in Turkish Review, which was one of the publications sacked by the Goverment a couple of months ago. I will tell you guys when I know. Let us see how things go until after the next weekend.
Fingers crossed :-SS :-w
Glad to hear you and yours are ok and let's all hope it gets sorted out quickly.
MickS