Turkish coup plotters 'fired on medics': eyewitnesses

By Meli̇ke Kinaci and Ferhat Demi̇rcan

ANKARA (AA) – Having attempted a coup on July 15, the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) also targeted medical personnel and ambulances treating wounded civilians in Ankara, according to one eyewitness.

Seventeen-year-old high-school student Sinem Cinar told an Anadolu Agency correspondent that civilians gathering in front of the presidential complex in the Turkish capital were shot by pro-coup soldiers.

Cinar said that medical staff and ambulances arrived at the scene but were fired upon.

"‘Are you going to shoot us too?’" medics said, Cinar stated.

"The ambulances were targeted despite their announcements. The wounded people were not allowed to be taken into the ambulances", she added.

The student said that medics were unable to do their jobs because of gunfire, leading to the death of several protesters at the scene.

Another eyewitness at the presidential complex, Gungor Gurleyuk, told Anadolu Agency that tanks also fired on civilians.

Gurleyuk claimed a child was shot by a sniper from the gendarmerie command building.

"I know where the bullets came from. The child was shot on purpose. After the shooting we tried to approach a bit but they started to fire," Gurleyuk said.

"We came here unarmed. We encountered the Turkish military, unarmed. We told them that the state would not fire anyone having Turkish flags," Gurleyuk said.

International law regards attacks against civilians and medical staff – even in war – as a crime.

Turkey's government has said the attempted coup was organized by followers of U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through infiltrating Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming a ‘parallel state’.

The deadly coup attempt began late on Friday when rogue elements of the Turkish military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.

At least 246 people, including members of the security forces and civilians, were martyred during the failed putsch and more than 1,500 others were wounded as they protested against it.