As protesters poured onto the streets, an AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the bridges, leaving dozens wounded.
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General Umit Dundar, who stood in as Acting Chief of Staff while Hulusi Akar was being held by the rebels, said 104 coup plotters had been killed.
By early Saturday, the putsch appeared to have fizzled, as police, soldiers and civilians loyal to the government confronted coup plotters.
Among those detained for questioning was the commander of Turkey’s second army, Gen. Adem Huduti, and other top aides in the eastern city of Malatya, Anadolu said. We knew there was trouble in Istanbul before we came out but we didn’t know it was an attempted coup.
At the time, Obama said Erdogan’s policies risked leading his nation down a “troubling” path. He said 2,839 soldiers were arrested. He was holidaying on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, but flew into Istanbul before dawn on Saturday and was shown on television outside Ataturk Airport.
Was a plan to overthrow Turkey’s government really hatched behind a gated compound in a small, leafy Pennsylvania town, or is that merely a smoke screen? It was, however, unknown where the president made those comments.
Pentagon press secretary, Peter Cook, said Saturday that USA officials are working with Turkish officials to get permission to resume air operations as soon as possible following the attempted coup. “Comments by pro-Erdogan circles about the movement are highly irresponsible”, the group said.
“We will never be a part of any plot against those who are governing our country”, he wrote.
By Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim declared the situation was “completely under control”.
Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a USA -based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen.
“If I were to send him a message, he would probably consider it as a slur and reject it”, Gulen said, adding, “but I have always prayed for myself and for him”.
Gulen said in a statement: “As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt”.
Erdogan has pinned the blame on Gulen, a former ally who he accuses of running a “parallel state”, and called on Obama to extradite the reclusive preacher to face justice.
“Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force”, Gulen said.
Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul overnight Friday, blocking key bridges.
His AK Party, with roots in Islamism, has long had a strained relationship with the military and nationalists in a state that was founded on secularist principles after World War One.
The government has also come under pressure from the millions of refugees in Turkey who have fled violence in neighboring Syria and Iraq, and a series of bloody attacks in Turkey blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels. Explosions and gunfire erupted throughout the night. “Right now in the skies of #Ankara, fighter jets are flying low”.
Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday held a phone call with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on the support of the brotherly Turkish people to their leadership to defeat the military coup attempt.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, provided Turkish authorities make a compelling case with evidence.
He’s urging them to show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed amid a military takeover of the key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally.
It’s unclear when the travel ban be lifted, as the FAA said federal officials are monitoring the situation and will update the restrictions as the situation evolves. “Everything must be done to protect human lives”, Merkel said, according to the spokesperson.
Now out of prison, Sik said the longstanding alliance between Turkey’s two most prominent Islamic leaders – Erdogan and Gulen – had collapsed into a bitter power struggle.
President Barack Obama has been briefed on the developments in the key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, the White House said. It also prohibits an aircraft of any registry from departing Turkey for the US. While no one expressed support for the military coup, few could see a positive outcome to the current crisis. In May, he forced out then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu who’d resisted Erdogan’s bid to change the Turkish constitution to invest more power in the presidency.
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No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions although a key procoup general had been killed.
