15/07/2016 Newsnight

As we go on air tonight reports from Turkey that the military

are on the street and bridges over the Bosphorus have been closed.

Fighter jets have been filmed over Ankara.

Could this be a military coup against President Erdogan?

It seems element of the military are indeed trying to seize power. Some

police and security units remain loyal to President Erdogan and there

are reports of clashes between them. And in France another appalling

tragedy as 84 people are mown down French authorites say

that the suspect, despite having a criminal history,

say he had no known links About ninety minutes ago we began

to hear reports of unexpected and unexplained military

action in Turkey. Fighter jets were filmed

flying low over the city of Ankara and the sound

of gunfire was reported. Shortly afterwards, the two main

bridges in the capital, Istanbul, were closed by security forces

with no explanation. The Turkish Prime Minister,

Ahmet Yildrim, stated that an attempted military uprising

was underway, adding that it President Erdogan says those

attempting to mount a coup will pay a heavy price.

I'm here with Newsnight's Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban, Ibrahim Dougas,

the Director of the Centre for Turkish Studies,

and our correspondent in Istanbul is Katie Adams.

What is the latest? This has all been taking place in the last hour

and events are still pretty muddy. What we first heard was that bridges

in Istanbul were closed off with soldiers on both sides. Now PM

yielder has said this is a partial takeover, it's not really a coup,

but we had a statement from the military saying this is a takeover

and they've done it to restore democratic order, maintain human

rights, and they will be maintaining international agreements. On the

part of the military they say this is very much a complete takeover.

We've just had President Erdogan on an iPhone, he's not in Ankara or

Istanbul, he's been on local television talking about the fact

they will not tolerate these threats. Calling on people to come

out in protest. Just on an iPhone, that's all we've heard at the

moment. The situation still very unclear with two sides having

different stories. It certainly does look like the military are on the

streets and you can hear it in the skies, to stop.

A little context, some background. Lets piece together what has

happened and night and we can see some pictures hopefully as we talk

through this. The first real sign something was up was when the

Bosphorus bridges were closed, these key thoroughfares across that

waterway in Istanbul. Troops were seen. In fact we can see them here

holding positions and stopping people from crossing. Tanks and

other armoured vehicles then went into the centre of Istanbul and to

key buildings, key headquarters in Ankara, the capital. A little bit

later on it became apparent that some police were resisting, and also

some elements of military intelligence. And some pictures were

shown of helicopters firing apparently at military intelligence

headquarters. I think what you can tell from all this is that this is a

large-scale military operation, supported by broad elements of the

Armed Forces. We know they've arrested the army chief, we know

they've attacked the military intelligence chief's office, so the

bosses are not behind this, it is the colonels and brigadiers, the

people who typically enact clues. But it's very widespread. And the

fact president Erdogan has come up through a shaky face time connection

suggests who has got the upper hand at the moment. But he made -- he may

manage to rally loyalist forces. Which raises the prospect of not

simply a coup d'etat but a Civil War in the making stub and there are

reports that there have been other incidents to night of the police,

who are thought to be are certainly elements of them, loyal to Prime

Minister Yildrim and President Erdogan, resisting and being treated

roughly by the military. There has already been a certain amount of

force used. The military are now claiming on certain Turkish state

media that they are in control. We are yet to see a real face or faces

to this clue. I'm hearing the state broadcaster has been taken over by

the military. Ebrahim, you are the director of the Centre of the

Turkish studies, and a closer watch of the region than most of us, how

supplies are you by tonight's events? There has been quite a bit

of talk on the streets of Turkey amongst political commentators that

to come up with a change in Turkey, the only way would be military to

come into power so quite a few people will not be surprised much.

But many in Turkey will be very much surprised because President Erdogan

is known to be grasping all the power in Turkey, and he had

extremely good working relationships with the military personnel. Again

as Mark put it it is very much the top brass, top commanders, chief of

staff, head of intelligence, head of police forces. They've all been very

loyal and close to President Erdogan. But there has always been a

case of info tracing into military and police and intelligence through

forces, loyalists within the country. Some on the government side

are claiming that this is not going to end up with a military coup, but

it will end up with those loyal. And what are they revolting about? What

is their grievance? Whatever they put on the statement is about the

direction the country has been taken to buy President Erdogan and his

close circle. Which means increasingly autocratic? Autocratic,

human rights is no longer strong, and it's all ways been a problem in

Turkey. But things have changed between 2004 and 2008, it has become

very autocratic, very difficult in terms of relations with its own

population and its neighbours. It's all been a very negative change for

the people in the country. One other point we should consider here, it

could be followers of this cleric, this Islamic ferret and that seems

to be the assumption of the people around President Erdogan, but it

could also be people loyal to the Ataturk vision of a secular Turkey.

They feel they have got to step in to save Turkey's secular values. If

I had to put money on one or the other, I would go with that one.

Military secularism. I want to take a moment to savour Foreign Office

has advised any British people in Turkey should stay away from public

places. They are saying that British people in Turkey should stay out of

public places. What happens next? It's difficult to judge right now, I

would say, because President Erdogan has taken the country from a very

bad position to a good position, then to a worse situation now. His

alleged sport to dodge Islamist terrorists in the region, he has

cracked down on Kurdish forces. The re-emergence of clashes between

Kurdish fighters and the Turkish military. They have all brought the

country to a standstill in no way. The economy began to do really bad.

This could be a coalition of many other forces who are unhappy with

the direction of the country. Many thanks to you both.

For the third time in 18 months, France reels

Social media is awash with increasingly desperate

relatives seeking news of missing family members and,

unlike in the two previous attacks, many children are known to be among

President Hollande has described it as a terrorist attack,

adding that the whole of France was under an Islamist

And while no group has claimed responsibility for the atrocity,

perpetrated by a lone man with no known history of radicalisation, few

We begin tonight's report with some eye witness accounts

It is not just in the dreadful scenes of carnage that the horror of

this attack lies, but in the pictures taken moments before.

Families, friends and strangers enjoying the warmth of the July

evening and the community of a national holiday.

From the corner of my eye I saw this truck speeding

towards us and we literally had maybe one or two seconds to get out

of the way and I just managed to push both me and my wife on the

So just what I thought that, he just lost control

of the truck, and it was an accident.

I just took out my cellphone and I turned on my video.

And I was filming the shooting and then they

killed him and they came close to make sure that he's killed.

I saw his head getting out of the window

I think they thought maybe the truck has a bomb or

something or maybe he is a suicide guy and he could explode himself.

So at that moment I started to run with

Basically just people, bodies everywhere, people trying to

Just too much going on for the police to handle it.

For two kilometres it was just a mess.

Yeah, it was a terrifying scene, terrifying scene.

Tonight there is a vigil going on in Nice to remember the many who have

died. We can see live pictures of it now.

Earlier I spoke over Skype to Alain Richard,

France's former Defence Minister and a Socialist Senator,

We have been considering cancelling or suppressing some events, but you

know, for the French public and the tourists too,

the visitors too, these fireworks and games and public

events for the national Bastille Day, it would be a trauma to

So the risk was taken, and that kind of method of

It had been envisaged but it wasn't really a priority in

Why do you think France has fallen victim to a tax of this nature on

such a scale and with a frequency we do not see anywhere else in Europe?

In a way, IS is certainly targeting France specifically for different

political or ideological reasons. But then we have clearly at least

two kinds of attacks. The attacks of Paris last November were planned,

were really prepared from the centre of IS. And the people who executed

the attacks were under the orders of IS. Whereas the criminal who

attacked last night was an individual. Of course we don't know

yet, but it's very, very likely that it would appear that he was

following the appeal of IS. But he was not under their hierarchy. In

the context of your own lifetime, how divided is your country at the

moment? I am all the more cautious to answer

this question but my personal analysis is that dividing French

society, and especially between Muslims and the other French people,

is certainly strategy of IS. If they target France more intense than

other democratic countries, my bet is that they do so because we have a

large Muslim community in this country of up to 6 million

inhabitants, and they would consider a victory, a success, if this

community was opposed by the rest of society. So of course it is a

challenge for us that the reaction and counterattack and rule of law

should be unanimous and not divide the French people.

Joining me now from Nice is Marc Etienne Lansade,

the Front Nationale Mayor of Cogolin - a town just along

How do you as a civic leader responds to an apparent terror

attack so close to home? I'm sorry, the sound is awful. Let me ask

again, how do you react to last night's events so close to your own

region? You know, it is really mixed feelings, firstly it is sadness and

compassion. Hearing this is very shocking, but it is also anger and

questions. I know that this moment is a special moment where you have

to respect death, and be far away from controversy, but it doesn't

destroy the questions and why it happens again. It is the third time

in France, and our government was explaining that we are in war but

who is leading the war? What is done? What are the means to make

this war? When you see that one person is making that, what will be

the future? You just heard, I hope, the former defence minister suggest

that Islamic State want to see more division in France and particularly

would like to see French Muslims discriminated against more. Do you

agree with him? I'm sorry but the sound is really too bad for

answering you. Can you please? I'm sorry. The former defence minister

suggests that Islamic State want to see French Muslims discriminated

against more. Do you agree with his analysis? This is not a question

that I'm asking. My question is are we going to stop these things. I'm

sorry but I don't think it is really decent to talk about this because

this is not the main question. The main question is what are we going

to do to stop... What we have in England, I think it is the Muslim

Brotherhood, that he is tolerated? We have mosques that are still open,

we don't do anything to stop this and for sure all of the museums are

not avoiding those things. How can you think something like this for

sure, but the problem is what we do to fight against this, like they

want to destroy our freedom, our values, on this special day for us.

I understand your answer although the question really was about the

response is politically in France to people perhaps not responsible. Do

you think French Muslims feel less safe now, because not only are they

at risk of being bricked into terror attacks, but also at risk of being

blamed for them in some quarters? Many thanks for your time and best

efforts this evening. So, who was Mohamed

Lahouaiej Bouhlel? And will his background provide any

clues about what led him to drive a rented truck into a 30,000-strong

crowd of people And joins me now. I gather the

father... Tonight the city grieves

in the aftermath of what appears to be the third major attack

on France in 18 months. This is the man believed to be

behind it, 31-year-old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel,

a Tunisian national who lived in the heart

of the city he devastated. His lorry was rented,

due to be returned on Wednesday. But around 11pm French time last

night, he turned onto Nice's Promenade des Anglais

and soon started to drive at people A number of people are reported

to have died when he got By the time the truck reached

the Westminster Hotel, Finally it came to stop outside

a casino at a junction. One and a quarter miles

of devastation. Searches today at Mohamed

Lahouaiej Bouhlel's flat, We spoke to neighbours about the man

who last night killed at least 84. TRANSLATION: He had a perverted look

which was scary, he wasn't friendly. We would say hello to him

and he wouldn't answer, He would move down,

keep going and stare. Religious people don't drink

alcohol, at least not normally. At a press conference this

afternoon, France's prosecutor gave new details about the attack

and the man behind it. TRANSLATION: Mohamed Lahouaiej

was known to the police and justice services for threats,

violence, and breaking and entering However, he's completely unknown

to the intelligence services, both He was not the subject

of a single file or ever Police will be hoping that

their searches of this small flat... You can still see the debris

on the floor, presumably from where they kicked the door

in from the flat early this morning. They will be hoping the searches

will reveal the motive behind At the moment the authorities

believe the attacks have all the hallmarks of being

jihadi-inspired but don't have Other key questions remain too -

did the attacker act alone? Could there be an accomplice

still on the run? And could more have been

done to prevent it? The truck used in the attack

was removed from the Promenade France is becoming used to horrific

violence, but something feels The use of a truck as a weapon,

targeting a smaller city, and the number of families

with children who were affected. Tonight, across Nice,

people came together to honour Over the next few days, we will

learn more about why they died. We are going back now to the events

in Turkey this evening. We're going back to the events

in Turkey this evening now to see if we can piece together more

about what's going on amid reports A Turkish military statement says

that the military has seized power, citing rising autocratic rule and an

increase in terrorism. These are the live shots from the bridge over the

Bosphorus. I'm joined by our diplomatic editor, for a story which

has developed since we last saw you 20 minutes ago. There is evidence of

a broadly supported military coup, they have taken key places, Istanbul

airport, a television station, but we have also seen an extraordinary

images of President Erdogan appearing on a phone held up by TV

presenter speaking, essentially saying, I am in charge. It would be

comic but he has ordered supporters onto the streets to contest this

military coup, and therein lies the potential for large-scale bloodshed.

If he's able to go to some part of the country that isn't under the

control of this new military jaunt, then he could raise loyalist forces.

Conflicting reports about President Erdogan's physical whereabouts, some

saying he's got on a plane, others saying his safe but in Turkey. When

you mention the prospect of bloodshed, this will depend upon how

many loyalists President Erdogan can mobilise and how quickly. And there

have already been clashes in the cities with police loyal to the

government and some of the military. We don't really know anything about

possible casualties but we know there have been incidents where

firearms have been used and buildings attacks attacked. There is

already a strong possibility blood has been spilt. Any indication of

who is at the top of the pyramid, essentially the leader? Fascinating

thing, in the 1960s it was all kernels. We know the army chief is

under arrest apparently, the head of military intelligence was also

seized. These people are loyal to President Erdogan apparently, so it

must be a level or two down. We have to wait and see if a face or a group

of faces emerges to claim responsibility. I'm hearing Turkey's

European Union minister has instructed them to do so --

disobeyed orders. We have live shots of tanks on the streets, suggesting

this engagement is far from over. With me now, Roula Khalef,

the Deputy Editor of the FT, and Richard Barratt,

the former director You were both poor used to discuss

the situation in France but I suspect your expertise extends to

Turkey. I know you were a foreign editor before, so give us an idea

how surprised they are by events tonight. I think it is an

extraordinary event. 20 years ago, you wouldn't have been surprised by

a coup in Turkey but now you expect that Turkey has moved on, not least

because one of the main supposed achievements of President Erdogan

has been to neutralise the army so I think this is pretty extraordinary.

We have to wait, the information is still very confusing. We have to see

if there is a counter coup that is mounted for instance. Clearly, the

chief of the Army is an ally of President Erdogan. The extent to

which the rest of the army supports this is still not clear. Is that

what you mean when you said he had mobilise the military, that he had

friends in high places? This has been a very determined campaign by

President Erdogan, from more than a decade ago, to move against the army

and concentrate power in his office first as Prime Minister and now as

president. We will move into your counterterrorism expertise

imminently, but as a security professional for many years, Turkey

has had a history of fractiousness, but not a recent history

necessarily. It is a fairly fractious society, there is quite a

division between the business classes, the middle classes and the

inhabitants who are perhaps more inclined to fundamentalist

interpretation of Islam than the more urban areas, but whatever way

you look at it this last 24 hours have been a tremendous day for the

so-called Islamic State. The attack in France, even if it wasn't a

terrorist attack, and it has still not been claimed by anybody, has

again raised everybody's fears that these attacks will become more

frequent and harder to stop. And of course Turkey had become, recently

anyway, one of the key enemies of the Islamic State and very much a

target. Whatever happens in Turkey now, it will be very chaotic. The

military helicopters have opened fire on the state broadcaster, I

have heard from unconfirmed reports. You mentioned the attack in France

last night, and as a counterterrorism specialist, is

there anything a city or a country can do to guard better against that

particular type of assault? Of course that is what everybody will

be thinking about but there is a limit to what you can do, clearly

with the weaponisation of everyday life like using a truck to kill

people in such an attack, how do you protect its against that? You can

have a ring of steel around an event but then it pushes the target

further away and it is equally soft where it is. I think that

essentially people are going to have to get used to the fact that these

sorts of things will go on, just as they have in the past and they will

in the future. Maybe this is an exceptional scale and that can be

limited but the possibilities of other people like this man coming

out of the woodwork and doing things like that is very real. Why France,

so specifically and so frequently now? I think there are several

reasons. One is France has a very large Muslim community, the largest

Muslim community in Europe. France also is very close to being a -- the

night -- Nigreb. France hosts sent the largest number of Europeans to

fight jihad with Isis and has also been one of the most outspoken and

active in the fight against Isis so I think there are various reasons

that combine together. Some people say that the very aggressive

secularism in France is symbolically that it works to turn Isis

supporters or people who are simply inspired by Isis, against the

government and against others in France. You have to remember that

here we are talking about two parallel things that are happening.

There are attacks, and Isis wants to lash out more because it is under

pressure now, but the second phenomenon that is happening at the

same time is the lone wolf phenomenon which is even more

dangerous. These are people that can be radicalised very quickly. Many

thanks indeed. Time now for possibly welcome change

of tone. Carla Lane redefined roles for women

on television in the '70s and '80s with comedies

such as The Liver Birds,