194 people have been killed and 1,563 detained in a night of violence across Turkey sparked when elements in the military staged an attempted coup, a senior Turkish official has said.
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President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg urged all sides to support Turkey’s democratically elected government.
“The situation is completely under control”, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said outside his Ankara offices, flanked by Turkey’s top general who had himself been taken hostage by the plotters.
Turkish officials have warned that its collapse could see Ankara allow a resumption of traffic that a year ago saw a million people, many refugees from Syria and Iraq, cross to Greek islands and trek over open borders to Germany.
European leaders condemned the army faction that attempted to overthrow Turkey’s elected government. The border with neighboring Bulgaria was closed overnight to those attempting to flee Turkey. The president, whom 52% of the people brought to power, is in charge.
“To wit, in the first hours of the coup attempt, some members of the Russian expert community were inclined to take a positive view of what was happening”.
While holding this debate as scheduled would send a strong signal that government life has returned to normal, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem would not fall off their chairs if they were notified in the coming days that the parliament debate might be delayed. Dundar, the general, said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and armoured units.
“The U.S.is behind the coup attempt”. The other was Lt. Gen. Metin Iyidil, the commander of combat and support training.
Men wave flags as they stand on tanks as people walk on the Bosphorus Bridge after taking over the military position, in Istanbul on July 16, 2016.
Later, broadcast images from the bridge showed soldiers walking among tanks with their hands up and surrendering to government forces.
Few regional analysts doubt that he will now use the failed coup to strengthen his presidential powers and to cleanse not only the military but other institutions suspected of harboring opponents.
Erdogan had called his supporters out onto the streets, and in several locations they outnumbered putsch soldiers.
“I urge the Turkish people to convene at public squares and airports”, he said. After facing down the bloodiest challenge to his 13-year rule, Erdogan triumphantly addressed thousands of supporters in his home Istanbul district after Friday’s chaos in the strategic North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member of 80 million people.
In a televised speech, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States should extradite Fethullah Gulen.
Echoing Trudeau’s statement, Dion said Canadians should avoid travelling to Turkey and those in the country are asked to remain indoors.
“I have a message for Pennsylvania: You have engaged in enough treason against this nation”. He said a change of government should only come through a legal, constitutional process.
At the height of the action, rebel soldiers took control of TRT state television, which announced a countrywide curfew and martial law.
The government is still attempting to corral all soldiers who participated in the coup.
There were frequent reports of gunfire.
Many EU diplomats argue that Turkey, faced with conflict across its borders in Iraq and Syria that has fueled internal strife with its Kurdish minority, and at odds with Russian Federation and most Middle East powers, can not afford to alienate Europeans. Turkey has also been the launching point for many Syrian refugees heading to Europe.
The U.S. works with Turkey on multiple crises in the region.
USA -based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen on Saturday denied accusations he played a role in the attempted coup in Turkey and said he condemned “in the strongest terms” the attempt to topple the government.
Government officials blamed the coup attempt on a USA -based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whom Erdogan has often accused of attempting to overthrow the government.
Kerry also urged USA citizens in Turkey to stay indoors and to be in touch with family and friends. We will update this post with further information as we have it.
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This is a breaking news story.
