The witness, who was close to Taksim Square and the CNN Turk studios, said the sound of helicopters and jet aircraft flying overhead preceded the explosions. A nearby mosque made an anti-coup announcement over its loudspeakers. Earlier, a spokesman for Turkey’s national intelligence agency, MIT, said that the attempt to seize control had been defeated. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.
Advertisement
The turmoil was reminiscent of coups that rattled Turkey from the 1960s to the 1990s, but Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development party had managed to instill a sense of stability in recent years.
Turkey is also home to pipelines that transport crude and condensate from nations including Iraq and Azerbaijan to Ceyhan, on the Mediterranean in southern Turkey.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said earlier that Turkey is facing an uprising attempt from inside the army, with the state-run Anadolu Agency reporting that Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar is being kept as a hostage with a group.
The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on developments in key North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally Turkey where the military claims to have seized power in a coup.
David Goldwyn, a former State Department special envoy and coordinator for worldwide energy affairs during the Obama administration, said it was too early to assess the situation from an energy perspective.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking jointly after talks in Moscow, both said they hoped bloodshed would be avoided. Syria borders Turkey’s southeastern edge.
The chaos in a country that is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ally, regarded as pivotal in the fight against the jihadists of Islamic State, boded ill for a region already roiled by violence.
Access to Twitter and Facebook was quickly cut soon after the first reports of an attempted coup began emerging from the country.
“We encourage U.S. citizens to shelter in place and do not go the U.S. Embassy or Consulates at this time”, the embassy said. Other countries issued similar advice.
Under Erdogan, who is extremely conservative, religion had started to play a more important role in Turkey, which is a largely secular country.
A military statement read on Turkish state television says the military has seized power in Turkey.
But CNN-Turk has quoted Defense Minister Fikri Isik as describing it as a “pirate statement”. A peace council will run the afairs of the country.
“All worldwide agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue”.
The attempted coup in Turkey may boost oil prices by imperiling crude shipments through the country, a major energy-trade corridor.
Advertisement
He told state news agency Anadolu the coup is “an attempt against democracy and the will of the people”. He said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy”. Initial reports emerged of military jets flying low over Ankara while the main bridges across The Bosphorus, the water body that separates the European half from the Asian half of Istanbul, were closed by armed forces.
