The Dogan news agency reported that soldiers fired on a group of people trying to cross the Bosporus bridge to protest the attempted coup, and that some people have been hurt.
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The group accused Erdogan of treason, and said it aimed to protect Turkish democracy and the secular nature of the state.
In an interview via FaceTime on CNN Turk television, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the coup on an worldwide opposition network.
Addressing supporters outside Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the crowd assembled there: “They have pointed the people’s guns against the people”. This was a SERIOUS indication the coup was, in fact, failing. CNN-Turk television reported some police officers and parliament workers were hurt in the bomb attack.
0147 – PM says gangs and illegal formations are behind coup attempt, and calls it a terrorist act.
The power struggle between the two foes came to a head in late 2013 after judicial officials thought to be close to Mr Gulen brought corruption charges that directly implicated some of Mr Erdogan’s inner circle, including his son Bilal.
“I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports”, he said.
At least 60 people were killed during overnight clashes in capital Ankara following an attempted coup in Turkey. One of the most explosive claims is that the schools are importing Turkish teachers to identify impressionable students and indoctrinate them into Gulen’s movement, sometimes called Hizmet, Turkish for “service”.
Erdogan has not left the Istanbul airport as dawn broke Saturday.
Traffic on the Bosphorus bridge was mostly halted in the first stage of the attempted coup.
Media reports suggest a Turkish F-16 fighter jet has also shot down a military helicopter over the city, although this could not be independently verified. He moved to the United States in 1999 to escape treason charges.
“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.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and other senior officials said the elected government remained in office.
A State Department source and a US intelligence official confirmed to CBS News a change of command was expected to take place next month for Turkey’s military.
A spokesman for the FAA, Laura Brown, said in an email statement to NPR that any USA -bound flights from Istanbul that were in the air before the airport closed will be allowed to land in the U.S.
CNN-Turk said Akar would now take over the command of the operation against the coup plotters.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had called Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to express his government’s “absolute support for Turkey’s democratically-elected, civilian government and democratic institutions”. “We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey”, the statement read.
Erdogan also said he will clean up the military.
“The Government of Canada is being kept informed of developments in Turkey, and we are doing everything possible to ensure that the safety and security of Canadians in that country is maintained”.
Ataturk led Turkey from the founding of the post-Ottoman state in 1923 until his death in 1938.
Rebel soldiers in Ankara and Istanbul were still firing from the air early on Saturday, although fighter jets have taken off to deal with rogue military aircraft, he added.
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Meanwhile in Istanbul, an official at the president’s office says more than 50 military officers have been arrested in Istanbul and large crowds have carried out multiple citizen arrests.
