Word: coup
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...promised would turn out in the preceding weeks. After riding into the capital in pick-up trucks and buses, their numbers peaked at about 100,000 on Saturday night, mainly rural poor who want the return of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup and is living in self-imposed exile rather than serve a two-year prison sentence on a corruption conviction. In late February, the Supreme Court confiscated $1.5 billion of his assets, saying he had enriched himself through abuse of power while Prime Minister. (See photos of Thai prison boxers...
...Thailand has been locked in a vicious cycle of pro- and anti-Thaksin demonstrations since late 2005. Thaksin's opponents say he was authoritarian and corrupt; his supporters say he was the first prime minister to address the problems of the nation's poor. The September 2006 coup failed to resolve the conflict. "The coup made the divisions even deeper. Now they are an abyss," said Weng Tojirakan, a red shirt leader...
Turkey's government charged seven high-ranking military officers on Feb. 24 for their alleged roles in a 2003 coup plot. These arrests came two days after as many as 50 former and current military officials were detained as suspected conspirators. Those not charged remained in custody for further questioning. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied that the arrests were motivated by tension between the Islamist-leaning administration and the secular military. Two trials from previous rounds of arrests related to the purported coup are still in progress...
Celebrating a Coup...
...military junta overthrew Nigerien President Mamadou Tandja on Feb. 18, following his decision to push through a referendum abolishing presidential term limits. Although the coup was condemned by the U.N. and African Union, thousands flooded the capital in support of the military council, which promised to return democracy to Niger. It appointed an interim civilian Prime Minister to serve until elections can be held...