Scores of members from Turkish armed forces were arrested across the country after a coup attempt blamed by the government on supporters of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.
754 members of Turkish armed forces were arrested for involvement in the coup, the agency said. A Turkish official added that 29 colonels and 5 generals had been removed from their posts. At least 60 people were killed in the turmoil.
Jets bombed near Turkey’s presidential palace in Ankara early Saturday as an army faction attempted to bring down the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Plumes of black smoke were seen rising over the Bestepe district where the palace is located, NTV television reported.
A Turkish army faction backed by tanks and fighter jets staged an attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday but the strongman returned to Istanbul defiantly claiming to have regained control.
Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO country of 80 million people.
World powers urge ‘stability’ in Turkey
At least 60 people have been killed and 336 detained in a night of violence across Turkey sparked when elements in the military staged an attempted coup, a senior Turkish official said.
The majority of those killed were civilians and most of those detained are soldiers, said the official, without giving further details.
Erdogan predicted that the move would fail and crowds of supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came out onto the streets to try to block the putsch.
After hours of chaos unseen in decades, the president ended uncertainty over his whereabouts, flying into Istanbul airport in the early hours of the morning where he made a defiant speech and was greeted by hundreds of supporters.
Erdogan denounced the coup try as “treachery” however aforesaid he was polishing off his functions and would stick with it operating “to the end”.
“What is being perpetrated could be a treason and a rebellion. they're going to pay an important worth for this act of treason,” Erdogan aforesaid at Istanbul’s flying field. “We won't leave our country to occupiers.”
Hours once Turkish troops claimed that they had confiscated power, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan aforesaid those answerable for the tried coup pays a ‘heavy price’.
With Turkish officers demand the coup was faltering and Erdogan ordering the military to shoot down planes being employed by the plotters, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim aforesaid one hundred twenty of these concerned had been in remission.
While addressing a news conference upon his arrival at Istanbul’s national capital flying field, Erdogan aforesaid the rising was associate act of treason.
Turkish military chief rescued after being held during coup bid: official
The head of Turkey’s armed forces has been rescued after being held hostage during an attempted coup by a military faction which used tanks and attack helicopters to try to seize power overnight, a senior Turkish official said.
Hulusi Akar had been held by rebel soldiers during the attempted coup, Turkish broadcasters said.
Earlier, the Turkish president had vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.
Gunfire and explosions rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night, but by the early hours of Saturday there were indications that the coup was crumbling.
Turkey blames IS for Istanbul airport carnage that killed 41
“We will overcome this,” Erdogan had said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by an announcer on the Turkish sister station of CNN. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.
Turkish spy agency targeted during coup bid
Turkey’s intelligence agency headquarters were attacked by military helicopters and heavy machinegun fire during an attempted military coup overnight, wounding at least three people, an intelligence source told Reuters on Saturday.
The head of the agency, Hakan Fidan, was at a secure location throughout the events and was in constant contact with President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the source said.
The intelligence agency was still working with the armed forces, the police and the government against the coup plotters in ongoing operations in Istanbul and Ankara in particular, the source said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the elected government remained in office.
“Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside
of the chain of command,” Yildirim said in comments broadcast by private channel NTV.
“The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.”
Crowds of people, some waving Turkish flags, gathered in major squares in Istanbul and Ankara to show support for the elected government. Police urged people to leave Istanbul’s Taksim square, warning military aircraft could open fire.
Turkey’s top general ‘held hostage’ at military HQ
Turkey’s top general was taken hostage at the military headquarters in the capital Ankara, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
“General Hulusi Akar has been taken hostage by a group in the military who attempted an uprising,” the agency said citing “credible sources”.
Social media access restricted
Access was restricted in Turkey on Friday to Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube shortly after news that a military coup was under way, according to two internet monitoring groups.
Turkey Blocks, a group that monitors internet shutdowns in the country, and Dyn, which monitors internet performance and traffic globally, both reported it was difficult or impossible to access social media services in Turkey.
Turkey’s EU minister calls on soldiers to disobey orders
Turkey’s minister for EU Affairs, Omer Celik, called on soldiers to disobey orders. He made the comment on broadcaster NTV.
Fighter jet downs military helicopter over Ankara
A Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a military helicopter being used by a faction within the army attempting the coup, broadcaster NTV said.
Fethullah Gulen, the arch-enemy of Turkey’s president
The state-run Anadolu agency meanwhile said 17 police officers had been killed in an attack on their offices in the city.
‘Military does not condone coup’
Turkey’s armed forces do not condone the coup against the government, the commander of the special forces said, after a group the government has described as a small military faction said it had seized power.
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General Zekai Aksakalli made the comment to broadcaster NTV, adding that the attempted coup would not succeed and that his special forces were in the service of the people.
Turkish officials blamed the attempted coup on followers of Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States who once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis. The pro-Gulen Alliance for Shared Values said it condemned any military intervention in domestic politics.
After serving as prime minister from 2003, Erdogan was elected president in 2014 with plans to alter the constitution to give the previously ceremonial presidency far greater executive powers.
Turkey has enjoyed an economic boom during his time in office and has dramatically expanded its influence across the region. But opponents say his rule has become increasingly authoritarian.
Pakistan express solidarity with Turkish people
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi has telephoned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu and expressed solidarity of people and government of Pakistan with the Turkish Government and democratic institutions.
The Turkish Foreign Minister thanked the government and the people of Pakistan for showing resolve to stand by democracy in Turkey. He said this is what we expected from a brother county.
He said they are also thankful to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his message of support for Turkish democracy and the government.
Iran suspends flights to Turkey airport after coup attempt
Iran suspended all flights to Turkey after a coup attempt in the neighbouring country.
The deputy director of Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport was quoted by the state broadcaster as saying that seven flights to Turkey had been cancelled Saturday morning. “We will revise the situation to resume the flights when we have the latest information,” Koroush Fattahi said.
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