Reuters also reported pro-coup soldiers surrendering to the police in Taksim Square, Istanbul.
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At least 161 people have been killed and over 1,400 wounded in an attempted military coup in Turkey.
During the initial phases of the uprising by a section of the military, it was hard or impossible to access social media for many users except by using a “virtual private network” to bypass local internet providers, local residents and monitoring groups said.
Responding to the first news of the attempted coup, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said military action was being “taken outside the chain of command” and it was an “illegal attempt” to seize power by “part of the military”.
The journalist working for Turkey’s Yeni Safak daily was among 90 people who lost their lives in a development that has shocked the world.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan battled to regain control over Turkey Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks after a coup bid by discontented soldiers. “They won’t succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything”. From the Asia Europe summit meeting in Mongolia Tusk says, “Turkey is a key partner for the European Union”.
Here is everything we know so far about the unrest that gripped Turkey’s main cities of Ankara and Istanbul throughout Friday night.
The attempted coup brought new instability to the Middle East region, with Turkey a key powerbroker in the ongoing Syria conflict.
Around 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul after dawn on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, according to news reports.
During the night, Erdogan had repeatedly urged his supporters to take to the streets to help put down the coup. Let us gather in our squares, at our airports as the people and let that minority group come upon as with their tanks and artillery and do whatever they wish to do, Erdogan said. “The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law”. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge.
Government officials accused Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States, of instigating the plot. Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.
Istanbul authorities sought to make a show of normalization with the bridges reopening to traffic and Ataturk International Airport – which had been shut down by the plotters – gradually reopening.
In reality, the soldiers who took over the studios at TRT had rebuffed a civilian attempt to force them out, and the coup ringleaders were able to continue broadcasting their message.
“Shots were fired by a military officer from inside the walls earlier this morning”.
Turkish Airlines flights are due to resume as normal at 1100 GMT on Saturday, the flagship carrier’s chairman told CNN Turk.
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The acting army chief, General Umit Dundar, said earlier that the coup attempt had been foiled. At least 60 people were killed in bombings and skirmishes in Istanbul and Ankara.
