** What follows is an abridged version of our coverage of Friday night’s events and their aftermath. The full version of this story appears here on our website.

Teflon Turk Erdogan bounces back from coup attempt; Egypt accused of using UNSC seat to confound resolution condemning coup.

As the world watched on Friday, a faction within the Turkish military — which appears to have been led by officers from the Air Force, the military police and armored units, according to the AP — attempted to forcibly seize power while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on vacation in the southwest Turkish resort Marmaris. The failed coup led to the deaths of at least 250 and the further cementing of Erdogan’s grip on Turkey, with Erdogan taking the opportunity to dismiss 2,745 judges across the country despite it being unclear what role, if any, they played in the events that transpired. More than 2,900 soldiers who took part in the attempt have also been arrested; footage over the weekend showed many of them being beaten or shot by civilians, in some cases as police watched.

Gulen, domestic opposition, and most world powers speak out against attempted coup as it was unfolding: US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, once one of Erdogan’s closest allies but now his most detested rival, had denounced the attempted coup as it was unfolding on Friday. Despite this, Erdogan has placed blame for the attempt squarely on Gulen’s shoulders, demanding that the United States extradite him, NBC News reported. The Turkish prime minister added that any country that stands by Gulen will be at war with Turkey. Domestic opposition parties CHP and pro-Kurdish party HDP both rejected the coup attempt on Friday, despite having been systematically harassed and marginalized by Erdogan in the past. Constanze Letsch hasan excellent piece in the Guardian explaining why so many non-AKP supporters defied the attempted coup.

Erdogan’s supporters and police beat, whip and in some cases kill surrendered soldiers in the street. The aftermath of the failed takeover has been ugly, to say the least, as numerous images have been released by the international media showing AKP partisans and police beating and whipping coup soldiers in the street who have already surrendered. (See Al Jazeera’s image gallery for multiple photographs of soldiers being attacked). There is also a disturbing video available online showing a dead soldier lying face down in a pool of blood in the street with AKP supporters kicking the dead body.

Turkish Airlines has resumed operations at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, but the US Federal Aviation Administration continues to prohibit US airline carriers to fly to or from Istanbul and Ankara airports as of time of dispatch, according to a notice by the US Embassy in Ankara.

Initial thoughts on the aftermath: A number of political observers were already noting on Friday that Erdogan will likely squander the brief moment of national unity to double down on his quest to not only consolidate power by pushing through his bid to amend Turkey’s constitution to create a presidential system, but also to further crackdown on all opposition. Ayse Kadioglu, a political science professor at Sabanci University, Istanbul, writes of the bombed-out Turkish parliament: ”Many of its major halls and corridors are in ruins. The sight was reminiscent of the Reichstag fire in Germany that took place on February 27, 1933, about a month after Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor.”

Egypt’s reaction: Egypt’s official line on the coup was that it respects the sovereignty of other nations and refuses to interfere in their internal affairs, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zeid in a call-in to Ahmed Moussa’s talk show “‘Ala Mas’oolity” (Arabic, runtime: 5:07). Abou Zaid discussed the issue of Egypt being blamed for the failure of the United Nations Security Council to issue a statement on Saturday condemning the violence and unrest in Turkey. Egypt’s objections reportedly concern a part of the statement which called on all parties to “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey,” diplomats tell Reuters. While Egypt’s Foreign Ministry objected to Egypt receiving blame for the failure, it did confirm through Abou Zaid that Egypt recommended that the wording of the phrase be changed to “respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law.”

That’s it, we’re calling it: A number of state and privately owned Egyptian newspapers on Saturday morning had their own ‘Dewey defeats Truman’ moment, prematurely calling the coup successful, with many running identical headlines, a point which was not lost on the international media, reported on by the AP and AFP, and which have since been reprinted all over the world.

Effect on Egyptian-Turkish economic ties: Egyptian traders with ties to Turkey have stated that the attempted coup will have no adverse impact on trade relations, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Meanwhile, the ministries of Trade and Industry and International Cooperation took the opportunity to reiterate that government-to-government talks on economic relations between the two countries remain nonexistent and joint economic cooperation councils have been frozen for the past three years. The ministry stated that the free trade agreement with Turkey currently stands. A source from the Chambers of Commerce denied a Turkish trade delegation is planning a trip to Cairo, AMAY says, but noted trade relations remained stable.

Back to rapprochement, or will Erdogan further retrench over Egypt’s response to the failed coup? Before the tumultuous events of last weekend, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Thursday afternoon that Turkey would like to normalize ties with Egypt if it spares former President Mohamed Morsi. “We think a statement of will by Egypt to the world in this direction is necessary both for democratization of Egypt and normalizing relations with Turkey … Turkey and Egypt are two key countries in the Middle East and north Africa, and it is natural for them to normalize friendly and brotherly relations,” Kurtulmus added. Kurtulmus’ demands did not stop there: He said Egypt should review the trials of Morsi and other Ikhwan members “by courts that are not impartial” and also called on holding “free, multi-party elections and to carry out democratic reforms.”

…We assume Abdel Aal did not receive the memo: House of Representatives Speaker Ali Abdel Aal had told Sputnik before the coup attempt: “Egypt is ready to cooperate with Turkey … provided it does not interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs.”

** The full version of this story appears here on our website.