Turkey marks decade since failed 2016 coup as Erdogan demands extraditions and launches fresh wave of arrests

Ten years after a faction of the Turkish military seized bridges, deployed tanks and bombed the parliament in Ankara, the country is marking the failed putsch with a national holiday and a fresh crackdown on those accused of orchestrating it.

The night that reshaped Turkey

On the evening of 15 July 2016, fighter jets screamed over Ankara and Istanbul, tanks sealed off the Bosphorus Bridge and soldiers stormed the state broadcaster to read a statement declaring the government deposed. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on holiday in the south-west, appeared on CNN Turk via a video call and urged citizens to confront the putschists. Thousands heeded the call, climbing onto tanks and blocking roads. By morning the coup had collapsed. Official figures record 253 people killed and over 2,000 wounded, most of them civilians who confronted the soldiers.

July 15 was not only a night on which a coup attempt that ultimately failed took place, but also a victory for democracy.

Blame falls on Gulen's movement

The Turkish government immediately blamed the coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, the Islamic preacher and former Erdogan ally who lived in exile in the United States until his death in October 2024. Ankara designated his Hizmet movement "the Fethullah Terrorist Organisation" (FETO). Within hours of the coup collapsing, arrest waves began. More than 50,000 people were jailed in the first year alone. Soldiers, judges, prosecutors, police officers, journalists, academics and civil servants were swept up. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu later confirmed that blacklists of judges and prosecutors had been prepared before the coup night.

We have eradicated the Fethullah terrorist organisation from every sector, from the bureaucracy through the army and the judicial system to the business world.

State of emergency and its legacy

Six days after the coup, parliament approved a state of emergency. Initially set for three months, it was renewed seven times and only expired on 19 July 2018. During that two-year period the president ruled largely by decree. In total, 160,000 public officials were dismissed, and the crackdown extended beyond Gulenists to the broader opposition, including leftist groups and the Kurdish minority. The 15 July date was declared the Day of Democracy and National Unity, a national holiday. The Bosphorus Bridge was renamed the Bridge of the Martyrs of 15 July.

Fresh arrests on the eve of the anniversary

On the Monday before the 10th anniversary, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci announced a new "major cleansing campaign" with 968 arrests across all 81 provinces. A separate report cited 704 people taken into custody, among them 80 serving police officers. Gurlek wrote on X that "the will of our nation and the survival of our state are threatened by the treacherous FETO network, and we continue our fight against it with the same determination as on the first day."

The will of our nation and the survival of our state are threatened by the treacherous FETO network, and we continue our fight against it with the same determination as on the first day.

Erdogan demands extraditions from allies

President Erdogan used the anniversary to issue fresh extradition demands to the UK, the EU and the United States, accusing some NATO partners of "covertly providing support" and "harbouring" members of the movement. British courts have previously rejected Turkish extradition appeals as "politically motivated", warning that suspects face ill-treatment in Turkey, which ranks 159th for press freedom. The UK does not designate the Gulenist movement as a terror group.

We are aware that some countries are covertly providing support to this organisation and are harbouring its members.

Authorities have also reopened investigations into unrelated past events through the lens of Gulenist conspiracy, including the 2009 helicopter crash that killed the chairman of the far-right BBP party, and have begun smearing the court-deposed CHP opposition leader Ozgur Ozel with Gulenist slogans.