Russia’s foreign ministry said the coup attempt, coupled with terrorist threats in Turkey and armed conflict in neighbouring countries, “brings a heightened risk to worldwide and regional stability”.
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Prime Minister Binanli Yildirim called the uprising “an attempt against democracy and the will of the people”. Gen. Umit Dundar, newly appointed as acting chief of the general staff, said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.
Local media reports said earlier the chief of staff had been taken hostage.
The latest from officials is that the coup has ended, though this has not been confirmed, according to the BBC, and more than 1,500 soldiers have been arrested. The senior official told The Associated Press that all government officials were in charge of their offices.
The military statement went on to say that “all worldwide agreements and commitments will remain”. “Fifty percent of the people elected the President and that President is on duty”.
As a helicopter flew over the famed Taksim Square, scene of massive anti-Erdogan protests three years ago, the crowd began to boo, shaking their fists at the night sky before they were shot at by the soldiers.
Some 90 people were killed in clashes that broke out across Turkey after a faction of the army attempted to take over the country on Friday night, state-run news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday.
Members of Turkey’s armed forces declared hours earlier that they had taken control of the country as explosions, gunfire and a reported air battle between loyalist forces and supporters of the coup erupted in Ankara, the capital.
The Pentagon said the coup attempt had so far made no impact on the Incirlik air base, and said anti-Islamic State air operations from Incirlik are continuing. In the country’s biggest cities, Istanbul and Ankara, there were reports of gunfire.
The statement read in part, “Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and general security that was damaged”.
More gunfire rings out as a confused nation watches. All of Turkey’s existing foreign relations would be maintained and the rule of law would remain the priority, it said.
Many in the crowd carried Turkish flags as they rallied at the Broadmeadows Library in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “We strongly hope that the situation will return to normal, and that order and peace will be restored as soon as possible”, Abe said in a statement.Abe told reporters he had instructed Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to ascertain the safety of Japanese in Turkey and work with relevant countries to gather information on the situation.
“It’s nearly 2 a.m. and mosques across Istanbul are relentlessly calling people to the streets to resist and protest the military coup”, wrote Twitter user Ceylan Yeginsu.
An official at Istanbul’s Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital said they had also received dead and wounded.
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Twitter’s policy team, however, said it did not think the site was fully blocked in Turkey. Facebook declined comment, but Twitter said it suspected “intentional” interference with its service.
