Turkish security forces have rescued the nation’s top general and taken him to a safe location, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
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Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said: “There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command”.
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.
Explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and coup supporters erupted in the capital throughout the night and Turks heeded the president’s call to take to the streets to show support for his embattled government. Police special forces and the military are securing the perimeter of the headquarters, the official said.
President Erdogan also said that the coup plotters would “pay a heavy price” for their actions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has now vowed revenge for the bloody uprising and said the country is back in control.
The chaos enveloping a country that is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, regarded as pivotal in the fight against Islamic State militants, boded ill for a region already roiled by violence.
After approximately five hours, up to 100 rebel soldiers surrendered on Bosphorus Bridge after their failed coup. During the coup attempt, the airport in Istanbul was closed and several news outlets were shut down, including CNN Turk and NRT news stations. President Erdogan urges the public to take to the streets to protest against the coup.
Concern was also voiced by the Kremlin – spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was being kept constantly updated on the situation in Turkey.
They will not be successful: Erdogan told CNN Turk, “I do not think that this will be successful”.
The power struggle between the two foes came to a head in late 2013 after judicial officials thought to be close to Gulen brought corruption charges that directly implicated some of Erdogan’s inner circle, including his son Bilal.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said: “We welcome the fact that democratic rule is prevailing in Turkey, and applaud the Turkish people – including many opposed to the current government – who bravely united to stand up for democracy”. Arrests of officers were under way and it would go higher up the ranks, culminating in the cleansing of the military, he said.
Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says of those behind the military coup, “There is nowhere they have proper control”. Turkey would be run by a “peace council” that would ensure the safety of the population, the statement said. People took to the streets to celebrate there and in other government-held cities.
In a fast-developing and turbulent series of events, tanks and soldiers blocked the entry to the main Istanbul airport, and incoming flights were turned away as outgoing air traffic also halted.
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Media reports estimate about 90 people were killed through the night and more than a thousand injured.
