Turkey: Attempted Coup

Overview

On the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction of the Turkish military launched a failed military coup against the government of President Erdoğan. At least 294 people were killed and more than 1,500 were injured in clashes between opposing military factions, police and protesters.

Service: Travel Security

Location: Turkey

Problem

Turkish airspace closed and air travel was suspended. Several hours of clashes occurred around locations in Istanbul and Ankara on 16 July 2016 between coup-affiliated military units and pro-government security forces and civilians. Early that day, government officials announced the coup attempt had failed. Forcing coup-affiliated troops to surrender on Bosphorous Bridge (Istanbul) and other locations they had tried to secure.

Solution

On hearing initial reports that Istanbul’s two main bridges were closed by military tanks and gunfire heard in Ankara, we issued a special advisory, advising International SOS members to minimise movement in both cities and to monitor our alerts for further information. Our local security providers were engaged to provide detailed information regarding routes and incident locations.

International SOS managed to relocate and evacuate 17 people from 5 different organisations by air and ground transportation.

Impact

Through our TravelTracker service, we were able to identify which clients had employees in Turkey, and in the subsequent days, our 24-hour Assistance Centre in Dubai managed over 300 client enquiries, providing up-to-the minute updates.

With extensive experience of operating in Turkey and established relationships with trusted local providers, we were rapidly ready to support our clients.