Turkish Airlines has resumed flights through Istanbul‘s Ataturk International Airport, which is back up and running after playing a central role in the government’s efforts to restore control after a coup attempt Friday night.
But the Federal Aviation Administration has banned flights between the U.S. and the Turkish gateways of Istanbul and Ankara, central scenes of an overnight uprising that left 161 people dead, more than 1,400 injured and later resulted in the arrests of more than 2,800 military personnel. The ban includes third-country airlines and transfer flights.
The U.S. Embassy in Ankara, where explosions destroyed some government buildings, acknowledged that the Istanbul airport had reopened but said it was hearing reports of sporadic gunfire nearby. U.S. government employees are restricted from using the airports.
Turkey also has temporarily closed the Incirlik Air Base which the U.S. uses for strikes in Iraq and Syria as it probes a coup attempt that was said to have originated in its air force.
Turkish Airlines flights from Atlanta — which began in May and faced a brief interruption on June 28 after a triple suicide bombing at the airport that killed more than 40 — have been canceled indefinitely, according to a search of the airline’s website, which notified passengers that they would be allowed to rebook flights at no cost through Aug. 31.
When the coup broke out, the partially state-owned airline quickly showed its support for the government through a statement on Twitter.
Our nation has demonstrated its preference for democracy, freedom, and maintaining the integrity of our country. We call upon all…
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) July 16, 2016
…citizens who believe in democracy and freedom to stand up against this attack on our Parliament and our public representatives.
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) July 16, 2016
Saturday morning, when the dust settled and the government was firmly back in power, the airline posted to Facebook a message that referred to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “commander-in-chief”, even as the whereabouts of the military’s chief of staff was uncertain.
“With the unflinching will of the people, Turkey has awakene to a new day with a much stronger sense of democracy and freedom,” the airline said. “Upon the call of our President H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan our operations at İstanbul Atatürk Airport is now back to normal and flights have begun.”
The airport was a strategic setting all night as the series of turbulent events unfolded, casting a fog of uncertainty over the nation of 70 million people and a key NATO ally.
Factions of the armed forces staged an uprising against the democratically elected government, a move that was swiftly condemned by the international community as well as Turkish opposition political parties. They attempted to blockade the airport but were overrun by supporters of Mr. Erdogan.
Traveling in coastal Turkey on vacationwhen the military took over the state television station to declare they had seized power to “restore democracy and human rights”, Mr. Erdogan used Apple’s FaceTime app to broadcast a message to Turkish citizens asking them to take to the streets in protest of the coup. Images on CNN and other news outlets showed hundreds of Erdogan supporters chanting as they marched through unattended Ataturk airport terminals.
A few hours into the melee, during which rebel soldiers blocked a bridge over the Bosphorus and attempted unsuccessfully to impose a curfew, Mr. Erdogan returned triumphantly to the airport, delivering a defiant speech surrounded by hundreds of supporters saying that the government had restored control and that the coup plotters would be brought to justice.
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