We still don't know the names of those behind this coup attempt, but they seem to be a senior military group with the resources and time to plan a major operation.
The government has blamed followers of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen - once an ally of President Erdogan, but his fiercest foe since 2013, when the president said he was behind a huge leak of phone calls that seemed to implicate the government in corruption.
Ever since, there's been a relentless purge of Mr Gulen's loyalists within the police, civil service and military: individuals the government has accused of forming a parallel state.
Mr Gulen has denied involvement in this latest coup attempt, but the government wants his extradition from the US, where he lives in exile.
Speaking of the coup plotters, the prime minister has even said the government would consider legal changes regarding the death penalty, which Turkey abolished in 2004.
What's clear is that President Erdogan will use this extraordinary event to clamp down even more on perceived opponents in an already deeply polarised society.
SOURCE:http://www.bbc.com/
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