At least 754 people have been arrested in connection with the attempted coup, state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing the interior ministry. That includes the National Intelligence Agency, police and government buildings.
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2352 GMT – Turkish PM says situation under control, blames Gulen movement, declares no-fly zone over Ankara.
A total of 1,563 military personnel have been detained across Turkey following an attempted coup, a senior Turkish official said. Crowds swarmed the streets, also in support of Erdogan, with some people lying in front of tanks in protest.
At least 42 people have been killed during the Gulen-orchestrated parallel state’s military coup attempt in Ankara’s Golbasi district, authorities said Saturday.
The report says the helicopter was used to attack Turkey’s satellite station Turksat.
President Erdogan, who was greeted by a large crowd as he emerged from a vehicle at the Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, said Prime Minister Yildirim has given orders to “eradicate” those who are shooting from the air, reported AP. The coup was a failure, he declared, and his government remained in charge. “Turkey displayed a historic cooperation between the government and the people”. Those from U.S. who are trying to destabilize our country, I challenge them to return.
United States has called on all parties in Turkey to support President Erdogan’s government against a coup attempt. 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. Airborne shelling at several locations included the ruling AK Party headquarters, the presidential complex and the General Staff, Anadolu News Agency said. The Turkish sister channel of CNN said he was “safe”.
Erdogan has long accused the cleric and his supporters of attempting to overthrow the government.
The situation is still confused, but Gen Dundar said the coup attempt “has been foiled”.
In May, Erdogan forced the previous Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu from power and replaced him with Yildirim, who is from Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.
Erdogan slammed USA -based preacher Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of leading a terrorist organization and attempting to infiltrate and overthrow the democratically-elected government in Turkey. The Alliance for Shared Values, a USA -based non-profit associated with Gulen, released a statement, saying the movement has “consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics”. Gulen has denied involvement, reported theguardian.com. Members of Turkey’s armed forces said they had taken control of the.
“Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from. The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m”.
Turkey has a history of coups with governments ousted on three occasions in the last decades by full military coups.
“Fifty percent of the people elected the President and that President is on duty”, he said. This government brought to power by the people is in charge.
Twitter’s official global public policy team tweeted: “We have no reason to think we’ve been fully blocked in #Turkey, but we suspect there is an intentional slowing of our traffic in country”. “It will end well”.
Erdogan traveled overnight from the seaside resort of Marmaris and addressed the country Saturday from Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.
The official refused to comment whether there were fatalities.
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The official said there has been no request for evacuations.
