© AFP, 2016RELATED NEWS Live: Turkish military ‘fully seizes’ control of country In 1997 the Turkish military also forced out current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's late mentor Necmettin Erbakan from the premiership. Turkey's army launched a coup attempt on Friday in a country that has seen three full military coups since 1960. Its leader Erdogan was prime minister from 2003 until 2014, when he became the first Turkish president directly elected by the people. Many Syrian refugees have launched attempts to reach Europe from Turkey's shores, making the perilous journey by sea to Greece.

Source: The Hindu July 15, 2016 21:56 UTC