Turkey marks third anniversary of failed coup

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey marks the anniversary of a bloody attempt to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, an event whose impact is still felt in the country.

Nearly 250 people were killed — excluding coup-plotters — and over 2,000 others were injured after a rogue military faction tried to wrest power from the president, but thousands took to the streets in response to Erdogan’s call to defeat the uprising.

This third anniversary comes at a difficult moment for Erdogan, faced with a weakened economy, worsening relations with NATO ally the United States, and a defeat for his party in the recent Istanbul mayoral election to a more unified opposition.

Erdogan will take part in a series of events in the capital Ankara before giving a speech in Istanbul and inaugurating a museum dedicated to the failed coup on July 15, 2016. After laying flowers at a special monument for the coup victims in Ankara at his presidential palace complex, Erdogan takes part in a ceremony at the parliament, which was also bombed during the attempted putsch.

The day, known as “15 July” in Turkish, has become a national holiday in Turkey.

Ankara accuses ally-turned-foe Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric exiled in the United States, of ordering the attempted coup and his movement of being a “terrorist” organization.

— AFP