About this episode

The episode recounts the events of the failed coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016, through the eyes of eyewitness Can Cumhurcu.

On 15 July, over 300 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, tanks and helicopters in a failed coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan. Some of the fiercest fighting took place on the first bridge linking Europe to Asia. It was there civilians and police confronted soldiers in deadly clashes. The waterfront neighbourhood of Çengelköy is directly below the Bosphorus bridge. As soldiers began passing through it, the neighbourhood Mukhtar, the elected head, rallied residents to set up barricades. Emily Wither speaks to that head, Can Cumhurcu, who stood his ground with his neighbours outside the local police station until he was shot by a soldier. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit…

People in this episode

Host: Emily Wither

Guest: Can Cumhurcu

Topics covered

• failed coup
• Turkey
• historical events
• eyewitness accounts
• civilian resistance

Keywords

• Turkey
• coup
• eyewitness
• Tayyip Erdogan
• Çengelköy
• Bosphorus bridge
• civilian resistance
• historical accounts

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Çengelköy, Bosphorus bridge

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