Notes

Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

-- July 15, 2016

-- A faction within the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the government.

-- (Images from the coup night. Helicopters firing, gunfire sounds, soldiers blocking bridges etc.)

-- At least 240 people were killed while defending the civilian government.

-- Turkish people heroically confronted the military, and sent them to barracks. (Images of people climbing onto tanks, protesting)

-- The culprit, unsurprisingly, was Erdogan's default scapegoat.

-- The Gulenists.

-- [Erdogan's first remark that Gulenists did it.]

-- Now the military coup attempt was over, Erdogan and his government unleashed a massive crackdown on anyone deemed to be a sympathizer of Gulen.

-- 35,000 detained

-- including 78 journalists

-- ~ 1,000 judges and prosecutors

-- and hundreds of teachers

-- Up to 100,000 purged from public and private institutions

-- Their schools are destroyed [okul tabelasi yikma goruntusu]

-- People are asked to report them to police [Erdogan ihbar edin]

-- And they're so relentless [Zeybekci beg to kill videosu]

-- [EU commissioner Juncker says the lists were pre-arranged.]

-- Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said the lists were prepared before the coup attempt.

-- Entire Turkish media launched a campaign to declare Gulenists as a group behind the coup.

-- Gulen, cleric exiled in Pennsylvania, however, unequivocally rejected the accusations.

-- [Gulen: I always condemned military coups and I condemn it now. Anyone who may have sympathized with me involved in this coup betrayed my principles]

-- The Turkish government made many allegations, but hardly presented an evidence to back up their claims.

-- Kerry: We need evidence, not allegations.

-- Toner: We don't think that evidences sent to us is sufficient for extradition.

-- Trudeau: We want evidences.

-- Gulen is not the only one to share the blame. They accused the US of being behind the coup. They even said Washington-based Wilson Center is involved in the coup attempt.

-- But what is the evidence presented by Turkey?

-- 1 Dollar Bills

-- Turkish authorities started to round up anyone who has 1 dollar bills at home. They claim that serial numbers are secret codes sent from the US.

-- Confessions by tortured military officers. Testimony of the primary suspect, for example, who could not move his hands, is a hand-written document.

-- The government is struggling to build up evidence so hard that they even resorted to show GTA game cheats as "evidence."

-- They published photos of a hand statue, claiming that officers kissed symbolic hand of Gulen to pledge allegiance.

-- Erdogan, who even did not know where the army chief was as coup was unfolding, was quick to blame Gulenists.

-- He even cannot make up a single narrative about how he learned about the coup attempt.

-- [images of Erdogan offering contradictory dates of when he learned about the coup]

-- One of lead suspects in the coup is Mehmet Disli, brother of a lawmaker from Erdogan's inner circle. He even landed at the Prime Ministry with the same helicopter that flew army chief Hulusi Akar.

-- Government claims that the strongest evidence of Gulenist involvement in the coup is when the army chief was asked to talk to Gulen.

-- The alleged offer came from Gen. Hakki Evrem, who described Gulen as an "opinion leader." No one in the Gulen movement would call Gulen as an "opinion leader." And Gen. Evrem denied such a conversation even took place.

-- Unable to provide substantial evidence, the government is now saying that they don't even need evidence.

-- Images of Erdogan, Yildirim saying that did US provide evidence for 9/11?

-- The coup attempt does not bear hallmarks of an action taken by Gulenists. They always distanced themselves from an armed action and violence.

-- Some also suggested that Gulenists made a last-ditch effort before the anticipated purge. History shows similar purges in the past did not prompt a similar action. Gulenists were en masse purged from the military in 1997. Kemalist officers were also purged from the military during coup trials. Never did they try to overthrow a government. Why would Gulen sympathizers in the military go to a suicide mission instead of retiring?

-- There are many questions than answers. No one yet knows who was the leader of the coup and which group attempted to topple the government. But everyone knows who seized the moment to purge tens of thousands of non-loyalists and jail thousands of people like teachers, journalists and members of the judiciary.