Istanbul 'back to normal' after attempted coup by Turkish army faction fails

The Turkish capital Istanbul has returned to relative calm following the attempted coup, according to one resident who spoke to IBTimes UK. Zeynep Jane Kandur, 53, a journalist with the Daily Sabah newspaper and an unpaid member of the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) administration in the city, said with hindsight, the attempt "was not surprising".

"In the past couple of weeks there has been a lot of talk about how we need to clean out some members of the military as we have done with both the police and the judiciary," she said.

Kandur said some army leaders had been accused of being members of the Gülen movement, also know as Hizmet. Erdoğan has claimed Gülen is the coup's mastermind or inspiration – a claim the imam has strenuously denied.

Although the army leaders had not been named publicly, Kandur said it was likely that people in higher echelons of government would likely have been speaking about targeting certain individuals for removal.

"I'm 100% sure they knew who they were going to remove," she said, adding that after around 10 days of talk of this type, Kandur said that with hindsight "was not surprising".

"Probably people should have seen it," she said, adding that after 20-years of living in Istanbul, after growing up with British parents in the US, it had "come like an earthquake to me".

"Seeing tanks and soldiers out like that was very sinister," she said. "It developed very rapidly."

On seeing what was happening, she said a lot of her family, friends and neighbours had immediately gone out to protest.

"My son went, my son-in-law went," she said. "I know a lot of people who went out there, almost everyone I knew was protesting."

She added: "It was people from all walks of life, all political spectrums, right across the board. It was the first time I can remember in Turkish history that all the political parties have all been united against something."

She added that by mid-morning on 16 July, less than 24 hours after the coup attempt, she had been able to drive across the city.

"It was just a normal Saturday afternoon, terrible traffic, people going out," she said.

Usually after incidents, she said there was political point scoring between the parties, added. "This is the first time, they have all said 'no'," she said. "They all have differences but they have agreed on this."

June's attack on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport by three suicide attackers armed with guns and bombs who 40 people and injured 140, January's suicide bombing on the city's Sultanahmet Square and Islamic State's presence across the border in Syria meant the country needed a strong government, she said, adding that she hoped the nation was "on the way to healing".

"If the politicians continue to behave in a mature responsible manner then Turkey can grow up and be a real democratic nation that can deal with this problem in the real democratic way," she said. "It is not the place for a coup."