#Turkey, and other failed coup attempts
Yasmine Jacobs takes a look at some failed coup attempts in recent years.
|||Cape Town - Conflict and unrest has wracked the world for centuries. Not only do countries fight one another, they also have internal strife that often end up in civil war and coup d'etats.
However, there are some overthrows that have failed.
July 2016 - According to recent reports, the military coup attempt to oust Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed. Erdogan was accused for undermining Turkey's secular traditions. Since the news of the military takeover, chaos erupted in Ankara and Istanbul. The conflict has resulted in 90 deaths (and counting). If the coup had been successful, it would have been one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years.
More than 90 dead after failed #Turkey coup https://t.co/fAi4rGtrrK | Independent Online pic.twitter.com/ElIYpruFHc
— IOL News (@IOL) July 16, 2016
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February and May 2014 - Since the assassination of former Prime Minister Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been constantly in a state of disorder. In 2014, there were two coup attempts on the Libyan government. This was reported to have been done by Major General Khalifa Haftar and his loyalists. In February, Haftar called for the suspension of the interim parliament and the formation of a presidential committee. In May, armed forces loyal to General Haftar stormed the Libyan Parliament after shelling it with anti-aircraft weapons and grenades.
December 2013 - Ever since South Sudan's vote to break away from 2011, there have a been a number of small armed rebellions and border clashes. Signs of rivalry within the leading party SPLM party came in July when President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka - the country's largest ethnic group - sacked his deputy Riek Machar who is from the second largest ethnic group, the Nuer. Soldiers and troops that were loyal to Machar tried to overthrow Kiir, aggravating political tension in the new country.
December 2011 - Towards the end of 2011, the Bangladesh Army foiled a coup plot to overthrow the democratically-elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The plot was believed to have been masterminded by serving officer Major Syed Mohammed Ziaul Huq with retired army officers working under him.
September 2010 - Ecuador was thrown into disorder when their National police occupied Parliament and blocked two international airports.They claimed this was a strike to oppose a government sponsored law that apparently reduced their benefits. In an attempt to ease tension, President Rafael Correa went to the police headquarters in Quito where he was attacked. He was escorted to hospital. Policeman were believed to have surrounded the building and stop President Correa from leaving. It was then when Correa declared a state of emergency and called this event a 'coup d'etat. He was later rescued by loyal troops.
Mojo-IOL
yasmine.jacobs@inl.co.za