Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on holiday when the revolt started, but has arrived at Istanbul Airport, and held a news conference at which he said his government would defeat the coup.
Advertisement
President Erdogan is vowing to dig in and reclaim power, but the usurpers’ end game is for him to step down or even be arrested. A Turkish official later said Erdogan’s plane had landed in Istanbul.
An employee of Turkish state-owned TRT World in Istanbul told The WorldPost that their office was forcibly cleared by armed men Friday and that the staff’s phones were taken.
Mr. Yildirim’s comments came shortly after reports on social media claimed Turkish forces had shuttered two bridges crossing the Bosphorous River, and that additional units were heading for the capital, Istanbul and other major cities in Turkey, in response to a reported “security threat”. “Our people should know that we will overcome this”, Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of the military special forces, told the private NTV television by telephone.
More than 130 people had been detained in relation to the coup attempt, and that the plotters had opened fire on civilians without hesitation, the official said.
“In this situation unity is what’s best, you need to stay by your country, regardless of your government or your identity as a Muslim, Christian or a Jew”, Aysunar Ince said speaking at the demonstration Friday.
Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge were also been shut down by the army, local television channels reported.
Turkey’s top general Hulusi Akar was taken hostage at the military headquarters in the capital Ankara after the attempt to bring down the government, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
On Turkish television, Erdogan urged citizens to take to the streets to demonstrate their support of the government. “I don’t think so”, Ilnur Cevik, an Erdogan aide, said.
Stephane Dion’s office is urging “calm, order, safety of all people in Turkey”.
In a surprising and unprompted statement, Turkey’s military leaders in April publicly dismissed rumors of a possible coup against Erdogan’s government. The military has a history of mounting coups to defend secularism, but has not seized power directly since 1980.
The State Department and U.S. Embassy in Ankara also warned Americans in country to be vigilant and shelter in place.
He said “gangs and illegal formations” were behind coup attempt, and the government remained in charge, despite admitting that sieges are under way at some important buildings.
Social media sites including Twitter and Facebook were down in Turkey for at least some portion of the evening, according to a tweet by the Internet watchdog group Turkey Blocks.
“There are widespread reports of gunfire and explosions in Ankara and Istanbul, and the military has been deployed to the streets”.
“I await all the people in the airports, the squares and the streets”, said Erdogan.
Advertisement
Mr Yildirim and other officials blamed loyalists of a US-based cleric for the coup attempt; his movement denied any part in it.
