On 15 July, over 300 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, tanks and helicopters in a failed coup attempt against President Tayyip Erdogan.
Some of the fiercest fighting took place on the first bridge linking Europe to Asia. It was there civilians and police confronted soldiers in deadly clashes. The waterfront neighbourhood of Çengelköy is directly below the Bosphorus bridge. As soldiers began passing through it, the neighbourhood Mukhtar, the elected head, rallied residents to set up barricades.
Emily Wither speaks to that head, Can Cumhurcu, who stood his ground with his neighbours outside the local police station until he was shot by a soldier.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: People take over a tank near the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge. Credit: Gurcan Ozturk/ Stringer via Getty Images)
