Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan urged people to take to the streets to protest against what he described as a coup attempt by a minority faction within the military, vowing that it would meet with a “necessary response”. His office declined to disclose his whereabouts saying only that he was in a secure location. “I am not going anywhere”, he said after the plane carrying him landed in Istanbul. It was not clear from where he was speaking.
Advertisement
Mr Erdogan, who said his general secretary had been abducted by the coup plotters, flew into Ataturk early on Saturday and was greeted by large crowds. Meanwhile, Turkey’s prime minister called the uprising an “illegal act”.
The heads of three political parties in Turkey will address parliament on Saturday after a failed-coup attempt in the country, according to the parliamentary speaker. “The perpetrators will pay the heaviest price”.
There have been no independent verification of the claims by the military or the government. The military has declared martial law.
The Dogan agency reported that the statement said that the military did this “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated”. The statements have not been distributed through regular web channels.
A CNN producer said there were 200 to 300 residents in Taksim Square in Istanbul. Some of them were waving Turkish flags.
Tanks were also seen rolling down the streets in Turkey and some could be seen apparently cheering on top of military vehicles, though it was not immediately clear if they were supporting or resisting the government. That policy, according to analysts, backfired when Turkey took on a more active role in the U.S.-led coalition against the extremists, who have since been blamed for a series of deadly bombings on Turkish soil.
Tanks were sent as well to Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Friday night, where all flights were canceled.
The U.S. State Department is urging its citizens in Turkey to take shelter and not to go to the USA embassy or consulates in Turkey. “I don’t have any details”. The National Security Council said Obama has been apprised of the “unfolding situation” in Turkey and will be receiving regular updates. It was still unclear how successful the government had been in quashing the coup as of Saturday morning, as gunfights around the military headquarters in Ankara continued and generals said rebels held onto a neighborhood in the capital.
Two bridges in Istanbul are closed in one direction by the military.
Images broadcast on NTV on Saturday showed several dozen soldiers surrendering on a key bridge in Istanbul, connecting the Asian and European sides, with their hands in the air as they stepped away from tanks.
Advertisement
The crisis follows a series of bombings that have hit Turkey this year, including a suicide attack in June that killed 45 people at Istanbul’s main airport.
