Qatar condemned on Saturday an attempted military coup and said the Emir telephoned Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to express support for measures taken by the government to maintain stability in the country.
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The Red Crescent in Turkey says 800 people are in hospital in Ankara and 200 in Istanbul after the night of violence.
In Istanbul, massive crowds were gathering in the city, including Taksim Square, waving flags and shouting support for Erdogan.
However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilise a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member that lies between the European Union and the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.
Urging people to take the streets: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is urging people to take to the streets to stand up to the military. A pro-Gulen group said it found the attempted coup “strange and interesting” but rejected any attack on democracy, fearing renewed attacks on its movement.
The government appointed an acting head of the military after Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar went missing.
Jones says there have been concerns in Turkey that the airport bombing and other terrorist attacks, the government’s crackdown on Kurds, and Erdogan’s attempts to solidify control over the media cold spark a reaction from the military.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said rebel soldiers who had taken control of military aircraft had fired from the air and fighter jets had been scrambled to intercept them.
Almost 200 soldiers surrendered at the military headquarters in Ankara on Saturday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Smoke rose up from nearby, Reuters witnesses said. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.
It comes as the British Foreign Office advises British citizens in Turkey to avoid public places and be vigilant as tanks took to the streets of the capital Ankara and soldiers reportedly rammed civilian cars and opened fire on people protesting in the streets.
“I think in the short term this failed coup plot will strengthen President Erdogan, particularly in his drive to turn his office into a strong and centralized executive presidency”, Hakura added.
Erdogan immediately pinned the blame on “the parallel state” and “Pennsylvania” – a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy whom he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.
European Council President Donald Tusk said the country was “a key partner for the European Union”. A TV announcer read out a statement saying that a “peace committee” had taken over the country against autocratic rule and will write a new constitution restoring democracy, whose institutions have been eroded by autocratic rule, and restore secular law.
Erdogan was on a seaside vacation when tanks rolled into the streets of Ankara and Istanbul.
Erdogan has severely curtailed freedom of speech and expression and has brought an increasingly religious bent to the Turkish government.
In Istanbul, an official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital said at least 150 people were admitted with wounds but would not comment on whether there were fatalities. For Erdogan, the greater goal was ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Erdogan was accused in some US circles of turning a blind eye towards Islamic State. He lay on ground at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, in front of another column of tanks.
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“We mourn all those who have been killed and injured in the last 24 hours, and we urge everyone in Turkey, on all sides, to end the bloodshed and ensure there is no recrimination”.
