The majority of those killed were civilians and most of those detained are soldiers, said the official, without giving further details.
Advertisement
A total of 50 soldiers surrendered abandoning their tanks with their hands raised, CNN Turk reported.
Internationally, many world leaders including from the U.S. and Germany have weighed in saying that because Turkey is democracy, the military must respect the will of the people.
Gunfire and explosions had rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night after soldiers took up positions in both cities and ordered state television to read out a statement declaring they had taken power.
Just hours after the Turkish government had expressed sympathy over the killings in Nice it was facing a struggle for survival after a faction of the armed forces declared a takeover and looked to impose martial law.
In an announcement, the military group accused the current government of thwarting democracy and secular rule of law in the nation.
He has now flown to Istanbul.
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the street after Erdogan’s call to confront the military was broadcast on television.
What burns up Erdogan is the American reliance on Kurdish forces fighting IS and the Assad regime in Syria – the Turkish president is driven by a near paranoid belief that Washington will reward the Kurds by supporting their quest for autonomy in any post-conflict division of territory in Syria and that such an outcome would turbo-charge autonomy demands from the significant Kurdish minority in Turkey.
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.
Turkish army F-16s launched air strikes against tanks stationed by coup backers outside the presidential palace in Ankara, while the parliament was also bombed, leaving its offices wrecked.
Bombs were thrown at the parliament building in Ankara. MPs were believed to be hiding in shelters. Yildirim didn’t provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy”.
Broadcaster CNN Turk was reportedly taken over by soldiers, and its live broadcast was cut. A failed coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country.
There were reports of clashes in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, with reports of gunfire and explosions had been heard near the square.
The alleged coup plotters are in control of at least one air force base, according to the interior ministry.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the coup on the movement led by Turkey’s Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.
The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas, the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, denied the charges.
“Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed”. Turkey said it was a “clique within the armed forces” who carried out the attempt.
Earlier, President Erdogan has blamed a “parallel structure” for the coup-attempt.
This is his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment an uprising in the military, media and judiciary.
More than 1,500 military personnel were arrested across the country, said a senior official who was not authorized to speak to the media.
World leaders called for calm, with US President Barack Obama and other Western countries urging support for the government they said had been democratically elected.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation called for “full respect” for Turkey’s democratic institutions. “Call for return to constitutional order”.
Advertisement
It has staged three coups since 1960 and forced out an Islamic government in 1997.
