Summary
We’re going to pause our live coverage of the failed coup by a Turkish military faction, its defeat at the hands of protesters, police and loyalists, and the subsequent crackdown in the military and courts by victorious president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The attempted coup
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On Friday night a faction of the Turkish military tried and failed to stage a coup to overthrow Erdoğan, and tanks, helicopters and soldiers clashed with police and protesters in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.
- Erdoğan delivered an iPhone address to the nation, calling on people to resist the coup and defend their democracy. Thousands turned out, and the president landed in Istanbul, where he denounced the “treason” by the rebellious faction.
- Parliament was struck by at least one bomb, and graphic videos and photos social media showed clashes, surrenders and chaos. Helicopters fired at people on the ground, mobs grappled with soldiers, and tanks barreled through crowds or were overrun by protesters. On Saturday the defense minister said the control was fully in control of the government.
- At least 265 people were killed in the violence and at least 1,440 wounded. Prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that 161 “martyrs” were killed, including civilians and police. The general acting as chief of staff, Umit Dundar, said earlier in the day that 104 “coup plotters” were killed in the fighting.
- Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and other world leaders condemned the coup. “All parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed,” the US president said.
The aftermath
- Authorities arrested 2,839 army members and ordered 2,745 judges and prosecutors detained, as officials began to purge the ranks of accused conspirators.
- Erdoğan demanded that Obama arrest or deport an exiled cleric, Fethullah Gülen, from his home in Pennsylvania. Secretary of state John Kerry said the US would consider extradition but required evidence of the imam’s wrongdoing.
- Gülen rejected the conspiracy accusations in a rare interview with the Guardian and other reporters, and suggested that Erdoğan could have staged the coup. He also condemned the coup attempt, saying, “now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back.”
- Turkey shut down US military flights from a base near the southern border, which the foreign minister said was because conspirators had been stationed there. He promised that air strikes from the base would resume after anti-coup operations, but the halt has disrupted the campaign against jihadi militants in Syria.
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Yildirim said that Turkey would consider reinstating the death penalty to punish coup-plotters and the “black stain” they had left on the nation’s democracy.
- Turkey’s four major parties denounced the attempted coup, including those that have vehemently opposed Erdoğan’s AKP. But fears remained that the pro-democracy protests may have emboldened Erdoğan’s increasing authoritarianism.
- Anti-coup demonstrations returned to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, where police restored order and a celebratory mood reigned. Injured people still waited for medical care at Ankara’s biggest hospital, and people recounted scenes of horror and death from clashes with tanks and soldiers the night before.
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Two Turkish majors, a captain and five privates requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter. Greece’s defense ministry acknowledged a landing near Alexandroupolis, and said the passengers were arrested for illegal entry.
Updated
Defense minister: government has total control
Defense minister Fikri Isik has said forces loyal to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have regained full control of all areas in Turkey, but warned that authorities will stay on high alert for any continued threat.
AP reports:
The uprising appears not to have been backed by the most senior ranks of the military. General Umit Dundar said the plotters were mainly officers from the Air Force, the military police and the armored units.
But Turkish authorities have detained General Adem Huduti, commander of the Second Army, and Alparslan Altan, one of the judges on Turkey’s highest court. There are also unconfirmed reports that General Erdal Ozturk, commander of the Third Army Corps, was detained, according to an unnamed official cited by Reuters.
What is the Gülenist movement, and why does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan consider it an existential threat?
My colleagues in London explain, and Amana Fontanella-Khan reports from Fethullah Gülen’s compound in central Pennsylvania.
Updated
Peaceful demonstrations are continuing around Turkey – with remnants of the attempted coup still standing scattered on the streets and the question hovering of how far will Erdoğan go in his retaliation.
Tank in Taksim square. No one minds today though, it's the cops #Istanbul pic.twitter.com/XJFOJYN0OP
— Josie Ensor (@Josiensor) July 16, 2016
Wonderful: Peaceful protests replace tanks & troops in Taksim. If only free assembly were so easy for all in Turkey. pic.twitter.com/QohPMTLWce
— Noah Blaser (@nblaser18) July 16, 2016
Defiant Turks defended their democracy on Friday night – but not necessarily the man elected by that democracy, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Guardian’s Istanbul correspondent Constanze Letsch reports.
“The resistance against the coup attempt last night was quite heterogenic,” said Erol Önderoglu, Turkey’s Reporters Without Borders representative who is currently on trial on terrorist propaganda charges after participating in a solidarity campaign with a pro-Kurdish newspaper.“The most valuable outcome of last night’s events is that many people who are not AKP supporters stood up for democratic values despite the recent crackdowns on the opposition, and despite the tension and the polarisation of the country.”
However, not everyone shared his optimism. “Everyone spoke out against the coup last night and that gave me hope,” said an academic who wished to remain anonymous. “But watching events unfold today this hope has shrunk quickly. Last night there was the possibility that the government would use this to return to a more unifying language, to return to the peace talks, to unite the country. But today it looks like they will use [the coup attempt] simply to consolidate power.”
The academic said that the trauma of past military interventions, and not sympathy for the government, drove people to oppose Friday night’s bloody coup attempt.
“These people do not support Erdoğan, but they oppose the idea of a military coup. Turkey has a history of very painful, traumatic military interventions, so I was not surprised to see such united opposition to this attempt.”
Turkey has faced a number of military coups since the foundation of the republic in 1923. The military, once the most trusted institution in the country, has long defined itself as the guardian of the secular Turkey established by the country’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. As recently as 1997, the army intervened and forced Turkey’s first Islamic-led government to resign.
But since 2007, when high-ranking military staff went on trial for an alleged coup attempt, trust in the military has waned considerably, and the AKP has long been credited with pushing the army back into the barracks and establishing civilian rule.
“Turkey has experienced a coup once every 10 years. Each time that happened, the country was thrown back by around 50 years,” said Levent Gültekin, an opposition writer and columnist. “The deaths, the torture, the horrible scenes in the street – all this is still very fresh in the collective memory in Turkey, and this memory is easily activated by scares of yet another military intervention.”
Evren, who died last year at age 97, left the country with a deeply undemocratic constitution, which, after being implemented in 1982, restricted the right to freedom of assembly and expression, seriously curtailed labour unions and put universities under strict state control.
Gültekin underlined that this was the first time that civilian resistance forced the army to back down from a violent intervention. “That is of course a good thing. But the real question is how these crowds who professed their loyalty to Erdoğan, will be used,” he said.
“Some of the people we saw on the streets are people who do everything Erdoğan asks them to do. He has turned voters into militant followers. It would be a positive development if the government will use them to further democracy, but if they are used to further authoritarianism, it would be a catastrophe.”
For the moment, however, fears that Erdoğan will undermine what Turks have achieved were overwhelmed by celebration of that very achievement.
What defeating a coup sounds like: pic.twitter.com/UWHmvcCN1u
— Zia Weise (@ZiaWeise) July 16, 2016
Anti-coup demonstrators, nearly all of whom draped in the red and white of the Turkish flag, have taken to the streets in cities around the country as their leaders asked them. Earlier on Saturday the president and prime minister called on people to return to pro-democracy demonstrations in case of a “second coup” attempt.
My colleague Kareem Shaheen is in the capital, Ankara, and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is in Kassimpasa, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Istanbul neighborhood.
Large crowds of several thousand people have gathered in Ankara’s central Kilizay Square, where Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was scheduled to make an appearance – but failed to show. The crowd hung around with several large portraits of Erdogan declaring him “Benim Baskanim” – “my president”.
In Kassimpasa, flag waving crowds of mostly religious and conservative people – the backbone of Erdoğan’s ruling AKP party – were whipped to a frenzy by a speaker telling them: “you stood for your neighbor! Recent Tayyip is our son, and we went into the street to defend him!”
The crowd responded with songs repeating Erdoğan’s name, kids on motorbikes drove by waving flags and chanting and a stocky and bearded religious student named Emirrat said he would not leave the celebration for anything.
“I haven’t slept for 29 hours, this a very good day for us but the struggle will continue.”
Elsewhere in Istanbul, crowds have swarmed onto the main thoroughfares and most famous streets of the city.
Istiklal now. Masses answering government's call to take the streets. Turkey pic.twitter.com/3f4a7H0x0w
— Shabtai Gold (@velvetart) July 16, 2016
Updated
What we know
As night falls almost a full day after a group within the military tried to stage a coup, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reasserted control, detained thousands of people in the military and courts, and demanded that Barack Obama arrest or deport a political opponent.
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On Friday night a faction of the Turkish military tried and failed to stage a coup to overthrow Erdoğan, and sent tanks, helicopters and soldiers clashed with police and protesters in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara.
- An estimated 265 people were killed in the violence, though authorities have given distinct tallies. Prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that 161 “martyrs” were killed, including civilians and police, and that at least 1,440 people were wounded. The general acting as chief of staff, Umit Dundar, said earlier in the day that 104 “coup plotters” were killed in the fighting.
- Loyalists arrested 2,839 army members and ordered detained 2,745 judges and prosecutors, as Erdoğan’s government began to purge the government and military ranks of suspected dissidents.
- Erdoğan demanded that Barack Obama arrest or deport an exiled cleric, Fethullah Gülen, from his home in Pennsylvania. Secretary of state John Kerry said the US would consider extradition but required evidence of the imam’s wrongdoing.
- Gülen rejected the conspiracy accusations in a rare interview with the Guardian and other reporters, and suggested that Erdoğan could have staged the coup. He also condemned the coup attempt, saying, “Now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back.”
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Yildirim said that Turkey would consider reinstating the death penalty to punish coup-plotters and the “black stain” they had left on the nation’s democracy. Erdoğan, in Istanbul after an extraordinary iPhone address on Friday, vowed to “clean up” the military and government of enemies.
- Anti-coup demonstrations returned to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, where police restored order and soldiers surrendered in tense scenes around the cities. Injured people still waited for medical care at Ankara’s biggest hospital, and people recounted scenes of horror and death from clashes with tanks and soldiers the night before.
- Parliament resumed sessions amid rubble from at least one explosion Friday, and all the major parties, including those that have vehemently opposed Erdoğan’s AKP, denounced the attempted coup.
- Two Turkish majors, a captain and five privates requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter. Greece’s defense ministry acknowledged a landing near Alexandroupolis, and said the passengers were arrested for illegal entry.
- The Pentagon lost Turkish airspace access and was forced to stop flying from a southern base, which Ankara’s foreign minister explained by saying that suspected coup plotters were arrested at the base. He promised that counter-terror cooperation would resume as normal after anti-coup operations ended.
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Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Donald Tusk and other world leaders condemned the coup in emphatic terms. “All parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed,” the US president said in a statement.
Updated
At Numune hospital, the largest in Ankara, hundreds of wounded people have been brought for treatment, my colleague Kareem Shaheen reports.
Cagri, a 29-year-old, was wounded by shrapnel when a military helicopter fired at loyalist security forces in his neighborhood of Kazan. “We just panicked,” he said.
A friend of his who was 2 miles away died in the fire from helicopter machine guns, he said. A taxi driver nearby grabbed him and took him to the hospital, where he had to lie down outside waiting to be treated because of the huge crowds of victims seeking help. Another friend lost his hand, Cagri said, his own shrapnel wounds in his chest and leg, bandaged. He added that has lost all feeling in his injured thigh.
Osman Konmaz, an EMT, said he treated between 350 to 400 people in the attack’s aftermath. He described the most heartbreaking cases he saw: one man who lost his leg after it was run over by a tank, and another when he saw the body of a man who was crushed by a tank controlled by the coup plotters.
“There was no humanity in any of this,” he said. Most of the injuries he saw were wounds from shrapnel or bullets. He said the incident took a grave psychological toll, and was even worse than the attack in Ankara last October by Isis that targeted a peace rally.
“This was the worst massacre I’ve ever witnessed,” he said, before alluding to a bombing months earlier. “At least October 10 was terror by a terrorist group, but this was done by our own military.”
Meanwhile people continued to gather at Kizilay Square, where prime minister Binali Yildirim is set to speak to the crowds.
Large crowds in Ankara rally, cries of takbeer pic.twitter.com/TLTIkJKOUK
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) July 16, 2016
People have started amassing in the streets and squares of Ankara, my colleague Kareem Shaheen reports from Kizilay Square, which is awash in waves of red Turkish flags.
There’s a carnival like atmosphere and a couple thousand protesters in Ankara’s Kizilay square, celebrating the coup’s defeat. Under towering portraits of President Erdogan that declare “we own democracy.”
Protesters are chanting “the martyrs will not die, the country won’t be divided,” “God is great,” and praising Erdogan amid music and jubilant flag waving. One chant said: “There is no left or right wing, only Ankara, the last castle.”
Ahmet, a 23-year-old protester, said he came to the demonstrations to stand alongside the elected president, saying he had also joined civilians who marched upon the presidential palace last night against the military.
“We are here together against it, and if they try a second time, we will stay here,” he said
A young couple who requested anonymity said they saw their presence as a defence of the homeland.
“They tried to divide our country,” said the man. “This is about our homeland and we will die for it, and they shot at us with their helicopters and their jets flew over our heads.”
The couple urged greater cooperation between Turkey’s political factions, saying the whole country was “one heart” in the immediate aftermath of the coup attempt.
Gülen: Erdoğan could have staged coup
In a rare interview with a small group of journalists at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, the reclusive Fethullah Gülen has told my colleague Amana Fontanella-Khan that he rejects all accusations that he was behind Friday’s coup attempt.
“I don’t believe that the world believes the accusations made by President Erdoğan,” Gülen said. “There is a possibility that it could be a staged coup and it could be meant for further accusations [against the Gulenists],” he said, a small prayer room, lined with woven rugs, decorated with Islamic calligraphy and leather bound religious books.
Gülen said he rejects all military interventions, and said he has personally suffered every time a coup has happened in Turkey in recent years. “Now that Turkey is on the path to democracy, it cannot turn back,” he said.
The last time the reclusive leader of the Gülen movement spoke live to international press was in 2014. Gülen rarely leaves the Golden Generation Worship and Retreat Center complex, where his movement offers religious instruction. The exiled imam is in fragile health. Before the interview he was attended to by a stethoscope-carrying physician who measured his blood pressure.
The sprawling compound is guarded by around the clock security. Following the news of the coup, Alp Aslandogan, the executive director of Alliance for Shared Values, and the media advisor to Gülen, said that security is on “high alert” following threats of violence on social media.
While Erdoğan is attempting to extradite Gülen for charges related to the coup Aslandogan said: “The US government position has always been that if there is any evidence of Mr Gulen breaking the laws, they will look into it.
“So far, the Turkish government hasn’t produced anything. Thank God, this is a country of laws, and we depend on that.”
Elaborating on the idea that Erdoğan may have staged a coup, Aslandogan noted Friday’s events did not match the pattern previous coups have followed: “The coup appears to be poorly planned, very poorly executed and everything seems to be paying into Erdogan’s hands.”
“There are many big question marks of how [this attempted coup] was executed,” he added.
Updated
The crowd shouts to Erdoğan that it wants the death penalty for coup plotters – the president responds by saying “these demands may be discussed in parliament”.
Turkey’s prime minister has already hinted that the country may reinstate the death penalty, fully abolished in 2004 under Erdoğan’s administration, may be restored.
Erdoğan pauses as minarets sound in the background. Then he declares: “the army is ours, not that of the parallel structure – I am the chief commander!”
He promises he will “clean out” coup supporters from the military and government.
Then Erdoğan again brings up Gülen, saying that the US should cooperate with his demands and that Turkey has extradited terrorists demanded by American officials. Once this “head of terror” is removed from exile, Erdoğan says, Turkey can have true change.
#BREAKING Erdoğan says those involved in coup attempt was a tumour inside military, they are being cleared pic.twitter.com/cMc5MG0fj1
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016
Erdoğan calls on Obama to arrest Gülen
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is speaking from Istanbul, where he calls on Barack Obama to arrest cleric Fethullah Gülen or deport him to Turkey to face charges related to the coup.
He says that if the US and Turkey are truly strategic allies, then the American president will help Erdoğan with regard to the exiled imam, who lives in central Pennsylvania.
Erdoğan then says that the attempted coup was perpetrated by a minority within the army, but not the military in general. More than 2,800 service members have been arrested so far and there are reports of more arrests around Turkey. Erdoğan’s government has also removed more than 2,700 judges and prosecutors from duty.
Earlier on Saturday secretary of state John Kerry said the US would consider an extradition request, but had not yet received one and would require evidence of wrongdoing.
#BREAKING Turkish President Erdoğan speaks live, calls U.S to hand over Fethullah Gulen to if U.S is strategic ally pic.twitter.com/N1hYKzuUBR
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016
Updated
Calm fell on Ankara in the aftermath of chaos and battles with soldiers, my colleague Kareem Shaheen reports, but the city anticipates new demonstrations as night falls and the weather cools.
Crowds are relatively thin and resting near the parliament and military headquarters in anticipation of the big demonstration later this evening. There are regular and plainclothes policemen in the central area who have established a security cordon around the parliament and the military headquarters, both of which were damaged in attacks during the coup.
I witnessed a debate between two police officers and a group of civilians – one of the police officers was telling them the regular soldiers aren’t to blame because they were just following orders. But a woman who was debating them said she blamed them for opening fire on civilians and expressed outrage that they had taken such a step.
As the group dispersed, one of the police officers said: “Let’s show them today how strong we are.”
American military flights have been halted at the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, according to the Pentagon.
“The Turkish government has closed its airspace to military aircraft, and as a result air operations at Incirlik Air Base have been halted at this time,” spokesperson Peter Cook said in a statement.
“Officials are working with the Turks to resume air operations there as soon as possible. In the meantime, US Central Command is adjusting flight operations in the counter-ISIL campaign to minimize any effects on the campaign. US facilities at Incirlik are operating on internal power sources and a loss of commercial power to the base has not affected base operations.”
Turkey’s foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said that coup plotters were at the air base and have been arrested, Reuters reports. Çavuşoğlu promised the anti-terror campaign will resume once anti-coup operations have ended.
He added that he’s spoken to US secretary of state John Kerry and stressed to him that the coup was launched by a network associated with exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen.
In 2015 Turkey agreed to let the US fly military strikes out of the base against jihadi militants in Syria and Iraq. Earlier on Saturday Kerry said that “as of this moment” Turkey’s coordination with the US on counter-terrorism was unchanged.
“Turkey’s cooperation with us with our coutner-terrorism efforts, in our Nato obligations and in our regional efforts with respect to Syria and Isis have not been affected negatively,” he said. “All of that has continued as before.”
The White House does not know of any Americans killed or injured in clashes overnight in Turkey, according to a statement on Barack Obama’s latest briefing.
In the statement Obama reiterates the need for continued coordination with Turkey, with which the US relies on for military and intelligence support and stemming the flow of refugees from Syria.
“The president this morning received an update from his national security and broader foreign policy team on the situation in Turkey. The president’s advisers apprised him of the most recent developments on the ground, and the president instructed his team to continue to work with their Turkish counterparts to maintain the safety and well-being of diplomatic missions and personnel, US servicemembers and their dependents.
“While we have no indications as of yet that Americans were killed or injured in the violence, the president and his team lamented the loss of life and registered the vital need for all parties in Turkey to act within the rule of law and to avoid actions that would lead to further violence or instability. The president also underscored the shared challenges that will require continued Turkish cooperation, including our joint efforts against terrorism.”
Turkey detains top general and judge
Turkish authorities have detained one of the military’s top generals and a member of the nation’s highest court, according to Anadolu news and CNN Türk.
Reuters has background on the officials:
General Adem Huduti is the most senior officer to be apprehended so far following the attempted intervention that killed more than 160 people. The Second Army, based in Malatya, protects Turkey’s borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Alparslan Altan is a member of the country’s top court and the most senior judicial figure among scores of civilians detained so far.
#Turkey BREAKING: government forces have arrested Adem Huduti who commands the 2nd Army pic.twitter.com/xNcrGJGE7n
— Thomas van Linge (@arabthomness) July 16, 2016
What we know
Nearly 18 hours after Turkish tanks and soldiers first closed bridges in Istanbul and a group within the military declared itself in control to “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms”, the coup has failed and the backlash begun.
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A faction of the Turkish military tried and failed to stage a coup to overthrow president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and sent tanks and soldiers into the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, where they clashed with ultimately successful protesters.
- Around 200 people at minimum were killed in the violence, though authorities have given distinct tallies. Prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that 161 “martyrs” were killed, including civilians and police, and that at least 1,440 people were wounded. The general acting as chief of staff, Umit Dundar, said earlier in the day that 104 “coup plotters” were killed in the fighting.
- Loyalists arrested 2,839 army members and removed 2,745 judges from duty, according to authorities and broadcaster NTV, as Erdoğan’s government began to purge the government and military of suspected dissidents.
- Erdoğan returned to Istanbul after an extraordinary iPhone address that called people to the streets, and said that the attempted coup was “treason” by “a minority within our armed forces”.
- Yildirim said that Turkey would consider reinstating the death penalty to punish coup-plotters and the “black stain” they had left on the nation’s democracy. Tensions remained high in some areas, with police preparing for more demonstrations overnight.
- Soldiers surrendered en masse in and around Istanbul, including 50 soldiers on the Bosphorus Bridge who abandoned their tanks and weapons in the face of crowds. The US diplomatic personnel confirmed social media videos and photos of sporadic gunfire and violence around Istanbul and Ankara.
- Turkish ministers returned to parliament, where at least one bomb had exploded on Friday night and where sections of the building lie in ruin. The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly freed from captivity.
- Erdoğan and Yildirim accused an exiled cleric, Fethullah Gülen, of organizing the plot from his home in Pennsylvania. Gülen denied the charges and condemned the coup, and US secretary of state John Kerry said the US would consider extradition but required evidence of the imam’s wrongdoing.
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Two Turkish majors, a captain and five privates requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter. Greece’s defense ministry acknowledged a landing near Alexandroupolis, and said the passengers were arrested for illegal entry.
- Barack Obama, Angela Merkel, Donald Tusk and other world leaders condemned the coup in emphatic terms. All of Turkey’s major political parties, including those that have vehemently opposed Erdoğan’s AKP, also denounced the attempted coup.
Updated
PM Yildirim: any country with Gulen is an enemy of Turkey
Any country that stands by exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen will be considered an enemy of Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said in remarks reported by Reuters.
Yildirim and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have accused Gulen, who lives at a remote compound in central Pennsylvania, of orchestrating the coup with a faction of the military. They have said that Gulen created a “parallel structure” within the courts, media and military.
Gulen has condemned “in the strongest terms the attempted military coup” and “categorically” denied any involvement. “Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” he said in a statement.
Speaking in parliament, Yildirim also said that he hopes Turkey’s political parties will be able to set aside their past enmity and have a “new start” together.
American secretary of state John Kerry said earlier on Saturday that the US has not received any extradition request and would hear a petition. But he made clear that the US would require evidence of Gulen’s wrongdoing.
“I’m sure people will wonder about allegations of who may have instigated this and where support came from,” he said. “The United States will obviously be supportive of any legitimate investigative efforts and under due process and within the law, we will be completely supportive of efforts to assist the government if they so request.”
Kerry added that he hopes: “that there will be a constitutional process, and a legal process, that will deal appropriately with coup-plotters.”
Updated
In Ankara my colleague Kareem Shaheen is with the scores of people celebrating in the aftermath of the failed coup – he reports that police and the loyal military factions are preparing for more trouble later today, despite the joyous atmosphere.
Carnival atmosphere in Ankara's Kizilay right now celebrating the coup's defeat pic.twitter.com/XjEXdyE0cF
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) July 16, 2016
Police cordon near damaged parliament and military HQ buildings in central Ankara pic.twitter.com/fjhFiLCHC7
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) July 16, 2016
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said that the community should have a unified reaction to every coup attempt, according to the state-run news agency.
Speaking to Turkey’s private news channel NTV, Kilicidaroglu took a stand against a military coup attempt, Anadolu agency.
“Community should give joint reaction to every coup attempt,” he said.
“So, whoever does, wherever it comes, we should take a joint stand against the coup as we take a joint stand against terrorism.”
The head of the Turkish Nationalist Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli made a telephone call to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim and said the attempted coup was not acceptable, according to a report from the Turkish state-run agency.
According to a statement form the Turkish Prime Ministry, Bahceli said his party is in solidarity with Turkish Republic, Anadolu agency reports.
In a written statement, Bahceli said an attempt at suspending democracy and ignoring the national will is a big mistake against Turkey.
“The price Turkey will pay will be considerably high in the event of a civil war in Turkey. As Turkish people, we need to be distant to all kinds of interventions risking our national unity and integrity,” he said.
In a joint written statement, People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs, Selehattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, said: “HDP takes a stand against every coup in every condition.”
“There is no way beside protecting the democratic politics,” it added.
Hundreds of people waving Turkish flags have gathered outside of the parliament in Ankara to protest the coup attempt as legislators prepare to hold an emergency session, AP reports.
In an unprecedented show of unity, all four parties represented in parliament are expected to issue a joint declaration Saturday condemning the attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
The extraordinary session began with a minute of silence in honor of those who lost their lives during the coup, followed by the singing of the national anthem.
The Associated Press has taken a look at Turkey’s long history of coups here:
How long has the military intervened in politics?
The military staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and pressured Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, a pious Muslim mentor of Erdogan who was disliked by Turkey’s secular establishment, out of power in 1997. In 2007, the military threatened to intervene in a presidential election and warned the government to curb Islamic influences, but the action backfired and Abdullah Gul, the candidate favored by a government with Islamic leanings, took office. The latest coup attempt surprised observers because Erdogan’s government had taken steps to bring the military to heel, including dismissals and prosecutions of high-ranking active and former officers for alleged coup plots. Erdogan’s government appeared to be working effectively with the military, coordinating on national security issues and confronting a perceived anti-government faction said to have infiltrated the police and other institutions.
Why would the military try to step in now?
The Turkish military has traditionally seen itself as the guardian of Turkey’s old secular establishment, a legacy of national founder and former army officer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, as well as an enforcer of order in times of civil unrest and weak civilian leadership. While it was forced to lower its political profile under Erdogan’s government, Turkey’s military has been buffeted by a renewed conflict with Kurdish separatist rebels and bombings by suspected Islamic extremists, including an attack on Istanbul’s main airport last month that killed dozens. Erdogan has also been a polarizing leader, though he commands deep support among a pious Muslim class that once felt marginalized under past military-influenced governments.
Why is the Turkish military so important?
Turkey is a NATO member and a key partner in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State group, which controls territory in Syria and Iraq, and has allowed American fighter jets to use its Incirlik air base to fly missions against the extremists. Turkey’s strategic location in the Mideast region, straddling the Asian and European continents, makes it a critical player in international conflicts. In 2003, Turkey barred U.S. forces from using its territory in the invasion of Iraq, raising questions about whether the politically powerful Turkish military had undercut a civilian-led initiative to help the Americans.
What do Turks think about their military?
Turks have a conflicted relationship with their military, an institution that is cloaked in the lore of sacrifice, but also tarnished as a past symbol of repression. Past military coup leaders have been seen as saviors from chaos and corruption, but also ruthless. In the 1960 military takeover, the prime minister and key ministers were executed. Torture, disappearances and extrajudicial killings were rampant in a 1980 coup. Despite that past, the military retains respect and vast economic resources. Service is a rite of passage for almost all men, who serve as conscripts. Soldiers who die in fighting with Kurdish rebels are hailed as martyrs.
Demonstrators against the coup have gathered in the Turkish capital of Ankara waving flags and singing the national anthem. Here’s some images that have come into the Guardian picture desk of the scenes.
German chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the attempted military coup in Turkey and said Berlin stood by those who defended democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.
“It’s tragic that so many people died during this attempted coup,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin. “The bloodshed in Turkey must stop now.”
Merkel said it was the right of the Turkish people to choose their political leader in free elections and political change should only be achieved within the framework of political institutions and the rules of democratic competition.
“Tanks on the streets and air strikes against the own people are injustice,” Merkel said.
The Dialogue Society, a charity aimed at improving social cohesion, has issued a statement commenting on the coup, in which it claims its Turkish-speaking members in the UK have reported a spike in hate-crime since the coup erupted. It said:
We hope those accused with trying to overthrow the government will be tried in courts of law and this incident becomes a source of motivation for strengthening Turkey’s democracy. We are particularly concerned that Turkey’s domestic troubles are used as a source of polarisation of the Turkish-speaking communities overseas and have already received reports from members of hate crime originating out of the UK. We encourage anyone who witnesses hate crime to report it to the police immediately.
My US colleague Amana Fontanella-Khan is outside the Pennsylvania home of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim cleric blamed by the Turkish president for the failed coup attempt.
A coup-plotter's lair? Only birds making a sound outside Gulen's HQ in Saylorsburg. Deadly quiet otherwise pic.twitter.com/dKafICmQDl
— AmanaFontanella-Khan (@AmanaFK) July 16, 2016
Turkish translation for visitors wanting to park outside Gulen's Center. Impending media scrum will probs ignore... pic.twitter.com/Vsys2KkeNy
— AmanaFontanella-Khan (@AmanaFK) July 16, 2016
Here’s a livestream of a rally in Istanbul celebrating the failure of the coup
US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would entertain an extradition request for exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey’s president blames for a failed coup, AP reports.
But Kerry added Turkey’s government would have to present evidence of Gulen’s wrongdoing that withstands scrutiny.
While visiting Luxembourg, Kerry said Turkey hasn’t made a request to send the Pennsylvania-based Gulen home. But he says he anticipates questions about Gulen, who has condemned the coup.
Turkey’s state-run news agency says authorities have detained 10 members of Turkey’s highest administrative court as the government appeared to press ahead with a purge of judiciary officials with alleged links to a US-based Muslim cleric.
The Anadolu Agency said that arrest warrants were issued for 48 administrative court members and 140 members of Turkey’s appeals court. Earlier, Anadolu said a body overseeing judges and prosecutors in Turkey has dismissed 2,745 judges across Turkey.
John Kerry, US Secretary of State, has spoken at length to reporters about his administration’s analysis of the failed coup in Turkey and the fallout. He said:
The United States, without any hesitation, squarely and unequivocally stands for democratic leadership, for the respect for the democratically elected leader and for constitutional process with that regard.
We stand by the Government of Turkey. It is our understanding that things are now calm, that order is being restored. I talked directly with my foreign minister counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, last night at the time where things were still uncertain as to what was happening and expressed my confidence in him and in the Government and our readiness to be supportive.
At this moment, all of our embassy personnel are 100% accounted for and okay. We are working to determine that all of our citizens who are travelling in Turkey are equally well taken care of and protected.
There was obviously an unfortunate loss of life and so we extend our sympathies to all of the families of the victims, and our hope that in the immediate hours here things will remain calm. That there will be a constitutional process, and a legal process, that will deal appropriately with coup-plotters.
But as of this moment, Turkey’s co-operation with us with our coutner-terrorism efforts, in our Nato obligations and in our regional efforts with respect to Syria and Isis have not been affected negatively. All of that has continued as before.
I’m sure people will wonder about allegations of who may have instigated this and where support came from, the United States will obviously be supportive of any legitimate investigative efforts and under due process and within the law, we will be completely supportive of efforts to assist the Government if they so request.
The Greek government says a Turkish Black Hawk helicopter will be returned to Turkey “as soon as possible” but it will examine the asylum demand made by eight military personnel who were arrested after landing, AP reports.
Spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said: “The government is in contact with the Turkish authorities for ... the return of the military helicopter as soon as possible.”
As for the eight military passengers, she said: “We will follow the procedures of international law. However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that [the Turkish military men] are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy.”
Greek police said that the eight arrested Turks include two majors, four captains and two sergeants first class. This differs from Turkish sources that said they were two majors, a captain and five privates.
Updated
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency says all soldiers involved in the attempted coup at the military headquarters in the capital, Ankara, have been taken into custody.
The report says anti-terrorism police will now conduct a detailed search at the headquarters.
Updated
Greece’s government spokeswoman, Olga Gerovasili, has announced the Athens government was in touch with its counterpart in Ankara over the landing of a Turkish military helicopter containing eight coup plotters in the northern border town of Alexandroupolis, Helena Smith reports.
In the first official statement on the issue, Gerovasili said the military aircraft had been accompanied by two fighter jets into Greek airspace and would be returned to Turkey as soon as possible. Suggesting that crisis-hit Greece wanted nothing to do with the incident, she also suggested Greece would repatriate the eight military personnel aboard the helicopter.
“The Greek government has been in touch with Turkish authorities in order to arrange the return as soon as possible of the military helicopter to Turkish authorities,” she said. “With regards to the eight arrestees, procedures foreseen by international law will be upheld although it is seriously being taken into account that in their country the arrested stand accused of violating constitutional law and attempting the overthrow of democracy.”
Updated
Turkish authorities have removed 2,745 judges from duty following the coup attempt, broadcaster NTV reported, citing a decision by the High Council of Judges and Prosectors (HSYK).
Five members of HSYK, Turkey’s highest judiciary board, were also removed, state-run Anadolu agency reported.
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Cleric blamed for coup denies involvement
US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen, who was blamed by President Erdogan for leading the attempted coup, has denied any involvement in the uprising, according to reports.
Reuters have released a statement from Gülen that said he “categorically denies” the claims that he orchestrated the coup, and argued power should be won through free and fair elections. He also reportedly said Erdogan’s accusations were “especially insulting” as he suffered at the hands of multiple military coups in Turkey.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey … Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force,” the statement said.
“I pray to God for Turkey, for Turkish citizens and for all those currently in Turkey that this situation is resolved peacefully and quickly … As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.”
Updated
Leaders of Turkey’s religious communities have released a joint statement condemning the attempted coup.
The statement from representatives of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities declares “our great sorrow over the terrorist attacks that disturb the peace of our great nation and of the world”.
The signatories include the president of Turkey’s directorate of religious affairs, Istanbul Greek Orthodox patriarch Bartholomeos and the chief rabbi of Turkey’s Jewish community.
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Lunchtime summary
Here’s a summary of events in Turkey overnight and into Saturday:
- An attempted military coup was launched in Turkey on Friday in a bid to oust the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of undermining the country’s secular traditions, but was brought under control overnight by loyalist forces.
- At least 194 people died in the coup, including 41 police officers, two soldiers, 47 civilians and 104 people described as “coup plotters”.
- Erdoğan, who returned to Istanbul in the early hours of the morning from his holiday in the resort of Marmaris, said the attempted coup was “treason” undertaken by “a minority within our armed forces”.
- The prime minister, Binali Yildirim, said on Saturday that legal changes would be considered to reintroduce the death penalty to deal with coup-plotters. He called the plot “a black stain” on Turkish democracy.
- There have been mass-surrenders in Istanbul, with about 50 soldiers on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul abandoning their tanks with their hands raised.
- The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage, has been freed.
- Two Turkish majors, a captain and five privates have requested asylum in Greece after landing in a military helicopter. Greece’s defense ministry has said a Blackhawk helicopter carrying seven Turkish military personnel and one civilian landed in the city of Alexandroupolis earlier on Saturday. The passengers asked for asylum and were arrested for illegal entry into Greece.
- The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has said he remains very concerned about the situation in Turkey after an attempted military coup left 161 people dead. Johnson said officials were working hard to “do the best” for the many Britons in Turkey and urged them to follow the Foreign Office’s updated travel advice which continues to “strongly advise” holidaymakers and others to stay indoors.
- British Airways cancelled all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday. The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) says about 50,000 holidaymakers are in Greece with its members.
Updated
Here’s a round-up of global reaction to the failed coup in Turkey:
Britain
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to underline support for Turkey’s “democratic elected government and institutions” in the wake of the overnight coup attempt.
The Foreign Office is advising Britons in Turkey to stay indoors, avoid public places – especially demonstrations – and remain vigilant.
It says: “The situation now appears quieter in Istanbul, and the bridges across the Bosphorus are reopening. But there are reports of tank fire and small arms fire in Ankara.”
British Airways says it is canceling all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday, but easyJet says it plans to runs its scheduled flights, largely to Turkish resort towns. The budget airline says the schedule “will be kept under continuous review”.
Nato
Nato’s chief says all alliance personnel and military units in Turkey are “safe and secure” following the attempted coup.
Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said in a Twitter post that he had spoken to Nato’s supreme commander, US Army Gen Curtis M Scapparrotti, who “confirms that all Nato personnel and units in Turkey are safe and secure”.
The alliance chief also tweeted that he welcomed “the strong support shown by the people and all political parties to democracy and to the democratically elected government of Turkey”.
Spain
Spain’s acting foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, condemned the attempted coup, telling Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government headed by President Erdogan.
He said: “Without a doubt we support respecting the constitution and democratically elected institutions, and we condemn all coups without reservation.”
Garcia Margallo spoke by telephone from Mongolia, where he is attending the ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting.
Syrian opposition
The exiled Syrian opposition congratulated the Turkish people for halting the attempted military coup.
The Turkey-based Syrian National Coalition said Turkey has protected its democratic institutions “in the face of dark and desperate attempts that sought to take control of the popular will”.
It says the Turkish people value democracy and “will not let a group of putschists take it away in a desperate attempt to restore military rule”.
Turkey has been one of the main backers of the uprising against the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, and is hosting 2.7 million Syrian refugees.
In the early hours of the attempted coup, celebratory gunfire broke out across Damascus. The government and its supporters view the rebels as terrorists and consider Turkey to be one of their chief sponsors.
Hamas
The Islamic militant group Hamas has congratulated Erdogan for quashing a “vicious” plot to overthrow him.
The Turkish leader has been a staunch supporter of Hamas and a fierce critic of Israel. Hamas says it remembers Turkey’s “wise leadership in supporting the Palestinian people and their cause” and working to lift the blockade on Gaza, the coastal territory ruled by the group.
Hamas supporters took to the streets in several places across the Gaza Strip to celebrate the failure of the coup, raising Turkish flags and posters bearing Erdogan’s image.
Turkey recently restored ties with Israel after a six-year lull following a deadly Israeli naval raid to stop an activist flotilla aiming to breach the Gaza blockade.
Qatar
The Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogan’s government, was quick to condemn the military coup attempt.
It called the attempted coup a “violation of the constitutional legitimacy” in Turkey and said it supports all legal measures the government takes to maintain security and stability.
The official Qatar News Agency said the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatar’s support.
Qatar and Turkey have grown increasingly close in recent years, and share similar stances on their support for Syrian rebel groups and the Muslim Brotherhood. The two countries agreed last year to establish a Turkish military base in Qatar.
Iran
Iran said the attempted military coup in Turkey was “doomed to fail”.
The foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as praising the “brave defence by the people of Turkey of their democracy and elected government”.
He said the events in neighbouring Turkey prove “that coup d’état has no place and is doomed to fail in our region”.
Pakistan
An aide to prime minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attempted coup in a statement and said Pakistan “hopes that peace and normalcy will be restored in Turkey”.
Tariq Fatimi also said he had contacted Turkey’s foreign minister to express solidarity with Turkey’s government and democratic institutions.
Pakistan’s main political parties have also praised the people of Turkey for foiling the coup.
Sharif was himself overthrown in a 1999 coup led by Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan until 2008.
Afghanistan
President Ashraf Ghani expressed support for Turkey’s elected government, saying in a statement that “democratic elections are the most effective means for peaceful transfer of power”.
“Militaristic options will only undermine democratic institutions, stability and development in the country,” the statement from Ghani’s office said.
Azerbaijan
The president of Turkey’s neighbor Azerbaijan condemned the attempted coup.
President Ilham Aliev was concerned about developments in Turkey and “welcomed measures taken to prevent the attempt at a coup and to stabilise the situation,” spokesman Ali Hasanov said.
Azerbaijan is a Turkic nation and its late president Geidar Aliev once described their relations as “one nation, two states” – a phrase later echoed by TErdogan.
Updated
In Greece, our correspondent Helena Smith is being told that the eight Turkish military personnel who sought asylum in the northern Greek town of Alexandoupolis have removed all insignia from their uniforms, making it impossible to know their ranks. She reports:
“We are in the process of sending interpreters in order to be debriefed,” one insider said. “We are also in touch with the Turkish embassy. It is vital that we know what is going on.”
Another said it was highly unlikely that the eight men would be granted asylum.
Turkey and Greece, though Nato partners, are long-time adversaries, with Athens closely watching events in Ankara.
As such, a defence expert said, this was the first time a Turkish military asset had landed in Greece with a view to seeking asylum in the country.
The land borders between the neighbours have been reinforced but customs officials are clarifying that while the crossing between Greece and Turkey remains open (even if cross-border traffic has been reduced to a trickle), that between Turkey and Greece remains firmly closed.
Updated
The Turkish president, Tayyip Erdogan, has sent a mass text message to Turkish mobile phones imploring Turks to “stand up” for democracy and peace.
The message, which came from “RT ERDOGAN” and was signed with his full name, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also called on people to take to the streets against a “narrow cadre”.
Updated
Around 50,000 British tourists in Turkey - travel agents
The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) says there are currently 50,000 people on holiday with its members.
A statement from the organisation said:
Following reports of an attempted military coup in Turkey, the situation remains fluid. Abta recommends that members of the public read and follow the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice and any advice or instructions issued by their travel provider or airline.
There has been no change to FCO advice regarding travel to Turkey and holiday programmes to the resort areas continue to operate.
The vast majority of British travellers to Turkey will fly directly to the beach resorts on Turkey’s south coast which are hundred of miles away from Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.
Abta estimates there are currently 50,000 people on holiday with its members in Turkey. There is no indication that guests in the coastal resorts are affected.
Updated
Anti-government group takes over frigate, according to Greek military
Reuters is reporting that an anti-government group has taken over a frigate and taken the head of the Turkish fleet hostage at Turkey’s Golcuk naval base.
Updated
The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, has demanded the return of eight military personnel who have landed in Greece seeking political asylum after the failed coup.
Helikopterle Yunanistan'a kaçan 8 hain askerin derhal teslim edilmesini istedik
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) July 16, 2016
British Airways cancels all flights to and from Turkey
British Airways has put out this statement:
In the light of events in Turkey we have cancelled all flights to and from Turkey on Saturday 16 July 2016, and BA675 departing from Istanbul on Sunday 17 July.
We are keeping flights to Turkey under review.
The safety and security of our customers and crew are always our top priority and we would never operate a flight unless it was safe to do so.
Turkish maritime authorities have shut Istanbul’s Bosphorus Strait to transiting tankers “for security and safety” reasons, Reuters reports.
The shipping agent GAC said some cargo carriers, such as bulkers, were still being allowed to travel through the Bosphorus which divides Istanbul into European and Asian sides.
The Bosphorus is one of world’s most important choke-points for the maritime transit of oil, with more than 3% of global supply – mainly from Russia and the Caspian Sea – passing through the 17-mile waterway that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. It also ships vast amounts of grains from Russia and Kazakhstan to world markets.
Updated
Turkish military personnel land in Greece seeking asylum
Greece has arrested eight men from a Turkish military helicopter which landed in the northern city of Alexandroupolis at midday on Saturday, the country’s police ministry said.
The men have requested political asylum, it added.
Greek state television ERT said the men may have been involved in Turkey’s military uprising on Friday.
Updated
A Turkish official has circulated a picture of what is said to be the PM's trashed office in parliament pic.twitter.com/AO6QM3vWwu
— Patrick Kingsley (@PatrickKingsley) July 16, 2016
Georgia has shut its border with Turkey after the coup attempt, Associated Press reports.
The prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, said Georgia’s security council on Saturday discussed “threats that might arise” from the situation and that land and air borders had been closed.
The former Soviet republic shares a 150-mile (250km) border with Turkey.
Updated
The British Labour MP and shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, said:
We welcome the fact that democratic rule is prevailing in Turkey, and applaud the Turkish people – including many opposed to the current government – who bravely united to stand up for democracy.
We mourn all those who have been killed and injured in the last 24 hours, and we urge everyone in Turkey, on all sides, to end the bloodshed and ensure there is no recrimination.
We urge the Turkish government now to recognise the need to unify the country and show greater respect for human rights, free speech and justice. These events cannot be used as justification for yet further repression and division.
Updated
Federica Mogherini, the vice-president of the European commission, convened an urgent meeting of EU member states’ foreign ministers and representatives, who are currently at a summit in Mongolia, to assess the situation in Turkey.
According to a statement, they expressed support for the democratic institutions of Turkey and condemned the use of violence against them.
It said: “They agreed that any escalation of violence involving civilians has to be avoided.
“The ministers will meet again in Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council, and will discuss again the situation in Turkey at that occasion.”
Mogherini spoke to the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and has been in contact with other foreign ministers and the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
Updated
Death penalty an option - Turkish PM
Asked if reintroducing the death penalty was an option for dealing with coup plotters, Yildirim said the death penalty was not in the constitution but legal changes would be considered.
Updated
Turkish authorities have issued an alert to borders and airports after being told that prominent members of the Gulen Movement, including journalists, might flee the country after the attempted coup, according to the state-run press agency Anadolu.
The report says authorities discovered the plans after lists were found detailing the commanders and their deputies to be put in charge during the period of martial law if the coup had succeeded.
Turkey’s acting chief of the general staff, Gen Umit Dundar, said on Saturday that the military was determined to purge members of the movement of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, from its ranks.
Updated
Countries are lining up to condemn the coup attempt, Associated Press reports.
Spain’s acting foreign minister, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo, tells Spanish national television that his government completely supports the Turkish government, saying “we condemn all coups without reservation”.
And the Gulf nation of Qatar, which has close ties to Erdogan’s government, said it supports all legal measures Turkey’s government takes to maintain security and stability.
The official Qatar news agency reported on Saturday that the ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, had spoken with Erdogan by phone to express Qatar’s support.
Updated
I’ll post a summary of Yildirim’s press conference shortly.
Updated
The first stage of the coup is over, Yildirim says.
The Turkish prime minister called on Turkish citizens to fill town and city squares with national flags tonight.
Updated
2,839 members of Turkish army detained - Turkish PM
Yildirim says 2,839 members of the army have been detained, ranging from ordinary soldiers to high-ranking officers.
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The Turkish president and the Turkish people have together overcome the uprising, the Turkish PM says.
Those who opened fire on Turkish citizens are ‘worse than’ the Kurdish PKK, Yildirim says.
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The coup-plotters should know that no one can “play games” with the stability of Turkey and the love of freedom and democracy its civilians have, the Turkish PM says.
The nation will never forget these people who committed treason, Yildirim says.
He thanks those who stood up against the tanks and risked their lives for their country’s independence.
Updated
Yildirim says the police and security forces risked their lives to restore order.
Turkish law will now deal with coup-plotters, they will be punished accordingly, Yildirim says.
Updated
Coup was a black stain on Turkish democracy - prime minister
The Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, is addressing the media in Ankara. He says the coup attempt was a “black stain” on Turkish democracy.
Yildirim calls the coup plotters terrorists, but says the nation has answered their attempt effectively.
Updated
Turkey’s government has the coup situation “90% under control”, although some military commanders are still being held hostage by the plotters, the EU minister, Omer Celik, has said.
Celik’s comments were broadcast live on the private channel NTV.
Updated
Turkish Airlines has said its operations at Istanbul Ataturk airport have returned to normal and flights are resuming, according to the Press Association.
Updated
Turkey’s state run press agency Anadolu is reporting that soldiers who have taken over the Chief of General Staff Headquarters as part of an attempted coup have requested negotiations to surrender.
According to a Turkish official at the presidency, that is the last base the coup supporters hold.
The UK’s recently-appointed foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has been speaking to Sky News. He said:
We’ve been following the developments in Turkey and we’re concerned about what’s been going on there.
First we want to urge calm and the avoidance of any further bloodshed. It’s crucial we respect the democratic institutions of Turkey.
That’s a message that was very much echoed by the Turkish foreign minister, my counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to whom I spoke a couple of hours ago. He was very grateful for UK support at the UN and elsewhere.
Obviously I’ve spoken to our diplomatic staff in Ankara and in Istanbul. They’re doing a fantastic job. They’re working very hard, as you can imagine, to do the best for the many Brits who are there, the many people who are there on holiday. They should follow the travel advice and we’ll do our best to update you as soon as we can.
Updated
Airspace over Turkey’s northwest Marmara region has been closed to civilian flights, which will resume at 6.05pm GMT, according to the Anadolu, the Turkish state-run press agency.
The Russian foreign ministry has released a statement warning that the coup poses an “increased danger” to international and regional stability. It said:
The aggravating political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability.
Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
Former British Army chief of general staff Lord Dannatt says it is important that Britain is able to work with Turkey “reliably and dependably” given its role fighting Islamic State in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:
Of course Turkey is an important Nato ally, where Turkey sits vis-a-vis the fight against Isil’s so-called Islamic State is absolutely critical.
Yes of course it’s got its own internal divisions and difficulties vis-a-vis the Kurdish aspect of that conflict but it’s really important that we can work reliably and dependably with Turkey because Turkey is an important part in this fight, really critical fight, to defeat Islamic State.
Here’s a breakdown of the death toll in the Turkish coup, as provided by General Umit Dundar, the newly appointed acting chief of the general staff. More than 190 people dead:
- 41 police officers,
- Two soldiers
- 47 civilians
- 104 people described as “coup plotters.”
Piero Castellano is a photojournalist based in Ankara.
He told the BBC that after President Erdogan appeared on TV, Turks surged onto the streets.
People rushed to the main square, to rush to the tanks and the armoured carriers - it was a bloodbath. It was unexpected.
There is a very strong link, or maybe there was until last night, there was a very strong link between the Turkish people and their military.
So people were shocked when the military actually fired on the crowd.
Labour’s election co-ordinator Jon Trickett, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn, has faced criticism for making a joke on Twitter, in which he likened the Turkish coup to the leadership challenge within the Labour party.
At least 90 dead, more than 1,000 injured in the real coup. Suspect this tweet will be deleted very soon. pic.twitter.com/aDHOik0LQp
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) July 16, 2016
As the Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh predicted, Trickett did later delete the tweet and apologised.
Okay okay. Tweet deleted and withdrawn. Shouldn't tweet when feeling I'll. I apologise sincerely
— Jon Trickett (@jon_trickett) July 16, 2016
Updated
Acting chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Umit Dundar, the loyalist who was appointed overnight following the alleged kidnapping of his precedessor by coup forces, has given a speech in Turkey claiming that the coup has failed.
In a reference to Turkey’s four previous coups in recent decades, Dundar promised that the army had “irreversibly closed the chapter of military coups.”
He said: “The people have taken to the streets and voiced their support for democracy. Turkey displayed a historic cooperation between the government and the people. The nation will never forget this betrayal. Turkey has irreversibly closed the chapter of military coups.”
He added: “The armed forces is determined to remove members of the Gulen movement from its ranks. We will continue to serve the people. I would like to thank all political parties and the media for their support for democracy. Those who betrayed their country will not go unpunished.”
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104 coup plotters killed - acting chief of military staff
Umit Dundar, who has been appointed acting chief of military staff, has said 104 coup plotters have been killed, according to Reuters.
Dundar said the coup plotter death toll is on top of the 90 people declared as dead, including 47 civilians.
A further 1154 people have been wounded.
As we’ve heard, coup plotters attempted to take over the state news channel TRT and was able to read a statement on air.
Carlos van Meek, director of news at state news channel TRT, described the moment he was stopped from broadcasting by coup plotters. He told the BBC:
We were taken off air in our headquarters in Ankara and at our secondary location in Istanbul.
I run the English language service. Our teams there were forced to leave the building, they cut the cord and took us off air.
At least for the group in Istanbul, I can speak to the group specifically, there phones were confiscated as well so we can’t get in touch with many of our staff, our Outlook is down, so it has been quite complicated just talking to the folks who were in the newsroom at the time.
It has been a scary night for my staff and people who work at the other channels of TRT but fortunately no one was hurt and everyone is safe at home from what I understand.
Footage of the Turkish Army chief, General Hulusi Akar, being rescued has been posted on the Twitter account belonging to Turkish PM Binali Yildirim.
"Genelkurmay Başkanımız Hulusi Akar sağ salim kurtarıldı ve şu anda Çankaya'da kriz merkezinde görevinin başındadır" pic.twitter.com/cVpDChEd1X
— T.C. Başbakanlık (@TC_Basbakan) July 16, 2016
The Turkish Embassy in London has released a statement.
The situation unfolded in Turkey was a coup attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government. This attempt was foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity.
Our president and government are in charge. Turkish armed forces was not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety. It was conducted by a clique within the armed forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation.
The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has warned that flights to Turkey are being diverted or cancelled.
#Turkey Some flights to airports in Turkey are being diverted or cancelled. Check latest FCO Travel Advice https://t.co/3RQE0ngQEf
— FCO travel advice (@FCOtravel) July 16, 2016
Updated
Eyewitness accounts to the dramatic, and confusing, events in Turkey overnight are filtering through. British-Turkish writer Alev Scott, 29, who lives about 200 metres from the square, spoke to the Press Association about her night.
I went through Taksim Square and there were soldiers and police.
It was fairly quiet - a bit of shouting. There aren’t normally lots of soldiers, just some police, but recently there have been some soldiers there and I wonder if that was connected.
When I got home I heard there was shooting in Taksim Square and I started hearing the gunfire and the call to prayer - but it wasn’t the call to prayer - it was completely the wrong time of night.
I don’t know whether they were calling people to the streets - it could be.
So then I was watching things from my terrace, watching the military vehicles on the Bosphorus Bridge and then these sonic booms started.
It was actually quite scary so I went down into my flat just keeping away from the windows which had all blown open.
Here’s some video of Turkish police attempting to arrest soldiers involved in the coup before being overrun by civilians. WARNING: some viewers may find the images distressing.
cnn'de darbecilere önce polis, sonra siviller müdahale etti pic.twitter.com/fiw5jVRC9v
— ismail saymaz (@ismailsaymaz) July 16, 2016
Hello, Jamie Grierson here. The UK’s new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has confirmed on Twitter that he has spoken to Turkey’s foreign minister.
Just spoken to #Turkey foreign minister @MevlutCavusoglu. I underlined #UK support for the democratic elected government & institutions
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 16, 2016
I’m now handing over the live blog to my colleague Jamie Grierson in London, who’ll continue to bring you the latest developments, including an expected statement from prime minister Binali Yildirim at around 11am local time.
The latest summary of events is here:
Istanbul is returning to some degree of normality. I just took a couple of taxis and a ferry, and people are up and about.
On the Bosphorus bridge, where we saw the first sign of a coup in Istanbul, after soldiers closed it late last night, there are jubilant Erdoğan supporters celebrating their perceived victory. Many wave Turkish flags – some of them from the tops of abandoned military vehicles that were left behind after the coup plotters beat a swift retreat this morning.
One of the final outposts of the putschists seems to be at the armed forces headquarters in Ankara, where pro-government forces are still trying to secure the site.
Some people have climbed inside the army trucks to wave their flags. They think the coup has failed pic.twitter.com/nPbYNhk245
— Patrick Kingsley (@PatrickKingsley) July 16, 2016
Some in Turkey are saying they’ve received SMS messages on Saturday morning from authorities encouraging them to gather in the streets again today in support of democracy.
Many of those protesting say they do not support the government or Erdoğan but will demonstrate in support of the democratically elected government in the face of an attempted – if apparently failed – military coup.
SMS fra tyrkiske myndigheder her til morgen opfordrer folk til at gå på gaden for at støtte demokrati pic.twitter.com/ObzyBkCj9B
— Nanna Muus (@NannaMuus) July 16, 2016
President Erdoğan – or at least the elected government – has received backing too from China and Japan today.
In China, state television cited the foreign ministry in Beijing calling on Turkey to restore order and stability as soon as possible.
In Japan, prime minister Shinzo Abe said Turkey’s democracy must be respected, and that peace and order should be swiftly restored.
The state news agency, Anadolu, says the death toll has risen to 90.
A further 1,154 people have been wounded, it reports.
Updated
MPs are currently holding an extraordinary meeting, called by prime minister Binali Yildirim, to discuss the attempted coup.
The meeting is taking place in the parliament building targeted overnight by soldiers involved in the coup, and which suffered damage from several explosions:
The number of military personnel arrested after the attempted coup now stands at 1,563.
Insisting he remains firmly in control, President Erdoğan made clear in his various statements that the attempted coup would provide an opportunity to “clean out” the armed forces. He compared those behind the coup to “terrorist groups”.
Here are some of his key quotes:
What is being perpetrated is a treason and a rebellion. They will pay a heavy price for this act of treason. We will not leave our country to occupiers.
Those who stain the military’s reputation must leave. The process has started today, and it will continue just as we fight other terrorist groups.
They have pointed the people’s guns against the people. The president, whom 52% of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people is in charge. They won’t succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.
What we know so far
The picture from Turkey is clearer on Saturday morning, with president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisting he remains in charge after a night in which a military faction attempted to overthrow the government.
But pockets of fighting continue, with some of those behind the coup claiming to be fighting on.
Here is what we know:
The attempted coup
- An attempted military coup has apparently been defeated in Turkey, in a bid to oust the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of undermining the country’s secular traditions.
- Erdoğan, who returned to Istanbul in the early hours of the morning from his holiday in the resort of Marmaris, said the attempted coup was “treason” undertaken by “a minority within our armed forces”.
- The president urged people to take to the streets in defence of the government, prompting chaotic scenes as thousands protested alongside tanks.
- Prime minister Binali Yildirim said coup fighters using military helicopters would be shot down.
- There were mass surrenders in Istanbul, with around 50 soldiers on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul abandoning their tanks with their hands raised.
- The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage, has been freed.
- But a pro-coup military faction insisted it would continue its fight and there were reports of ongoing clashes in Ankara, where a building in the parliamentary complex was bombed overnight.
Deaths and arrests
- At least 60 people have been killed, many of them civilians.
- Sixteen people involved in the attempted coup were killed in clashes at military police command, and 250 others arrested.
- Separately, 13 soldiers who tried to storm the presidential palace in Ankara have been arrested.
- In total, 1,563 members of the armed forces have been arrested, among them 29 colonels and five generals. Rear Admiral Nejat Atilla Demirhan and General Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey’s command for the Aegean region, are said to be among those detained.
Erdoğan’s response
- In a defiant address to supporters at Istanbu’s Ataturk airport, Erdoğan said the armed forces needed to understand that they were not in charge of the state, saying the coup plotters had brought out tanks, but “my people” had taken them back.
- In an earlier statement, the president said the failed coup represented an opportunity to “clean out” the armed forces.
- He also accused “those in Pennsylvania” – that is, cleric Fethullah Gülen and his supporters – of betraying the nation and orchestrating the coup.
Gülen denies involvement
-
Fethullah Gülen has rejected the claim that he was behind the coup:
I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey. Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.
As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categorically deny such accusations.
International reaction
- US president Barack Obama urged all parties to back the “democratically elected” government.
- Officials of the EU – Donald Tusk, Jean-Claude Juncker and Federica Mogherini – issued a statement supporting the Turkish government:
Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law.
- Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Saturday morning:
The democratic order in Turkey must be respected. Everything needs to be done to protect human lives.
- The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said:
Military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable.
- US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said:
We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms – and support for the democratically elected civilian government.
- The new British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, tweeted:
Very concerned by events unfolding in #Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely. Brits should follow FCO website for advice
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 15, 2016
Turkey on Saturday
- Yildirim has called an emergency meeting in parliament on Saturday.
- Flights were diverted from Istanbul’s Ataturk airport and departures cancelled after reports of explosions there, but are now resuming.
- Turkey has closed border crossings to Bulgaria, which said it was beefing up its own border controls.
- Media outlets including CNN Turk that were shut down by soldiers during the attempted coup are returning to the air.
- Authorities in Turkey may be blocking or slowing access to social media networks including Twitter and Facebook.
Updated
Turkey has a long history of coups: the most recent occurring in 1997, and one of the most brutal in 1980. President Erdoğan’s Islamist-leaning government was believed to be in a stronger position than most previous civilian administrations, shoring up his position during a decade of economic success. He also inserted sympathisers and loyalists into key parts of the state apparatus and increasingly cracked down on suspected plotters.
But recent events in Turkey and across the Middle East have destabilised the country, with Kurdish rebels fighting a new insurgency in the south-east of the country. The Syrian civil war, raging across Turkey’s southern border, has also spilt over into Turkey, with Islamic State mounting a series of terror attacks across Turkey in the past year, killing hundreds.
Erdoğan’s Islamist-aligned government was also perceived by liberal wings of Turkish society to be infringing on the secular traditions established by the father of the modern Turkish state, Kemal Atatürk. But it is also opposed by followers of Fethullah Gülen, the exiled leader of another Islamist-minded movement.
Head of armed forces 'rescued'
Reports from Turkey say the head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was apparently taken hostage during the attempted coup, has been freed.
NTV reports Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar was freed after an operation. He resumes command of the armed forces pic.twitter.com/EzciRt07KC
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) July 16, 2016
That would appear to signal the end of Umit Dündar’s role as acting chief of military staff, which has lasted about two hours.
Sixteen people involved in the attempted coup have been killed in clashes at Turkey’s military police command, says police chief Celalettin Lekesiz, according to state news agency Anadolu.
Two hundred and fifty others have been arrested, Lekesiz says, adding that fighting at the compound continues but the skirmishes “are about to come to an end”.
Anadolu also reports that General Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey’s command for the Aegean region, is among those arrested.
In total, 754 members of the armed forces have been arrested.
Anadolu reported that soldiers involved in the coup were detained by fellow officers at the Etimesgut armoured units training command, close to Ankara, and handed over to police.
Reports from Turkey say 29 colonels and five generals have been removed from their military posts.
A total of 754 members of the armed forces have been detained following the attempted coup.
A group of rebels continue to fight and are believed to still have control of some military helicopters.
There were attacks overnight on the Turkish parliament and presidential palace; it is unclear whether those assaults have stopped.
Images from Ankara on Saturday morning show some of the damage.
Turkish news site Aksam reports the arrest of Rear Admiral Nejat Atilla Demirhan:
Tuğamiral Nejat Atilla Demirhan, Mersin Emniyet Müdürlüğü’ne getirildi pic.twitter.com/VMbeBwnoi9
— Aksam.com.tr (@Aksam) July 16, 2016
According to a senior government official, via Reuters, Turkish military headquarters are now back under the control of armed forces loyal to the government.
However, there are still pockets of rebel soldiers continuing to fight, and they still have some military helicopters.
No fighter jets remain under rebel control, the official said.
Germany has expressed its backing for the Turkish government against the attempted coup. Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Saturday morning:
The democratic order in Turkey must be respected. Everything needs to be done to protect human lives.
State news agency Anadolu now reports that 754 members of the armed forces have been detained in connection with the attempted coup.
Gülen 'categorically denies' links to coup
Fethullah Gülen, the US-based cleric accused by Erdoğan of directing the coup from his home in Pennsylvania, has rejected the claim. In a statement, Gülen said:
I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey. Government should be won through a process of free and fair elections, not force.
As someone who suffered under multiple military coups during the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be accused of having any link to such an attempt.
I categorically deny such accusations.
Read more about Gülen and his rivalry with Erdoğan here:
In the face of government assertions that the coup has failed, the pro-coup faction of the armed forces insists it is still fighting, Reuters reports:
An email from the Turkish military general staff’s press office address said on Saturday the faction of officers behind an attempted military coup overnight was still determinedly fighting all those who try to oppose it.
Calling itself the Peace at Home Movement, the faction also called on people to stay indoors for their own safety.
The Guardian’s Patrick Kingsley is in Istanbul and sends this latest:
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, appeared to have weathered the worst of an attempted coup after a night of chaos and bloodshed that saw an army faction try to oust a civilian government in Turkey for the fifth time in 60 years.
As the sun rose over Turkey on Saturday, confrontations were continuing in some parts of the country. But Erdoğan had been able to re-emerge from a retreat on the coast of the Aegean Sea and fly to Istanbul, where he was greeted by crowds of his supporters who overran the airport, having defied troops who had tried to seal it off.
“Turkey has a democratically elected government and president,” Erdoğan said after landing. “We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.”
Huge crowds of Turks defied a military curfew, gathering to oppose the coup by swarming around military vehicles and in some cases lying down in front of them. A series of opposition leaders, normally critical of Erdoğan’s increasingly autocratic ways, also issued supportive statements. A leading pro-Kurdish party, the People’s Democratic party (HDP), said: “The only solution is democratic politics.”
The prime minister, Binyali Yildirim, said at least 336 rebel officers had been captured by loyalist forces and promised to shoot down any military planes in the control of the coup’s supporters. Footage also emerged of police officers arresting soldiers who had taken over Istanbul’s central square on Friday night and rounding up army officials who initially seized a television channel.
Istanbul’s two airports, shut on Friday night by the coup’s supporters, reopened at 6am, and a bridge spanning the city’s Asian and European sides followed suit less than an hour later.
But Erdoğan’s loyalists could not quite declare victory, with gunfire heard in parts of Istanbul and at least one fighter jet – believed to be controlled by rebel pilots – making menacing low-flying swoops over the city centre.
At least 60 people died in overnight fighting, the presidency said, after the coup leaders launched a series of attacks on the parliament in Ankara and fired tank missiles at pro-government protesters in the streets outside.
Gruesome footage showed corpses with limbs and torsos blown apart by tank ordnance, and the sun rose on Saturday to reveal charred walls and smashed windows of the parliament.
Updated
At least 60 dead; 336 arrests
Updated figures now say at least 60 people died in the attempted coup overnight.
Some 336 people thought to have been involved in the plot have been arrested, according to the justice minister.
New chief of armed forces named
Umit Dündar is the new acting chief of military staff, says prime minister Binali Yildirim.
There is no word on the current head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar.
Earlier, Erdoğan said he had no information about Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage at military headquarters by those behind the attempted coup.
Reuters has more details as soldiers involved in the coup begin to surrender in Istanbul:
Around 50 soldiers involved in an attempted military coup in Turkey surrendered on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul on Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.
A Reuters witness earlier saw tens of other pro-coup soldiers surrendering to armed police after being surrounded in Istanbul’s central Taksim square.
Broadcasters are now showing live images of soldiers on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul leaving their tanks with their hands raised.
Bitti. Feto'nun verdigi cesaret 10 saat. Hesabı sorulacak. pic.twitter.com/3rEz85I9S9
— Fatih er (@fatiher99) July 16, 2016
Turkish government officials say the coup is now over – although Erdoğan did concede that what he called a “small disturbance” continues in Ankara.
Reports from the capital, however, say fighting is still going on, with the state-run Anadolu news agency saying a military helicopter used by coup plotters has been shot down on the outskirts of Ankara.
Government sources say Turkish F-16s have also launched air strikes against tanks outside the presidential palace.
Updated
The crowd, numbering in the thousands, is chanting and singing – one nation, one flag, one motherland – and shouting Erdoğan’s name as he leaves the platform.
Erdoğan says he will stand firm and will not compromise.
He says he will address “those in Pennsylvania” – by which he means cleric Fethullah Gülen and his supporters – accusing them of betraying the nation. That’s enough, he says: if you are courageous, come back to Turkey.
Erdoğan speaks in Istanbul
Broadcasts from Turkey show President Erdoğan addressing a sizeable crowd in Istanbul now.
He tells supporters that the government will succeed.
From the highest level of the army to lowest-ranking officers, he says, the armed forces must know they cannot govern the state.
The government is elected and is in control, he says. The people elected a president and that president is here.
He says the coup plotters brought out tanks, but “my people” took them back.
Istanbul’s Ataturk airport – where more than 40 people were killed in suicide attacks just a fortnight ago – is now reportedly back in the hands of officers loyal to the government having earlier on Friday night been targeted by coup backers.
Flights were suspended or diverted, but some are now arriving. A number of flights are being diverted to Istanbul’s second airport, Sabiha, as the situation at Ataturk remains unclear.
Flights now inbound to Istanbul—IST. Most diverting to nearby SAW, some diverting elsewhere. https://t.co/fP90CKhojJ pic.twitter.com/LkZXO5shGK
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 16, 2016
Turkish Airlines said it encouraged citizens to “stand up against this attack on our parliament and our public representatives”:
Turkish Airlines condemns the attempted military coup.
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) July 16, 2016
Broadcaster CNN-Turk is back on air, having been closed down on Friday night when soldiers entered the building and ordered journalists to leave.
State broadcaster TRT was also taken off air by those involved in the coup; Carlos Van Meek, its news director, told CNN in the US that its English-language channel remained off the air. Some of its Turkish channels might be restoring signals, Van Meek said:
By taking us off the air, they felt they had the opportunity to control the message.
However, Reuters reports that bomb attacks on the parliament are continuing, with a senior Turkish official saying rebel soldiers have been warned they will be shot down if they attempt to use more military aircraft.
The Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim has called an emergency meeting in parliament on Saturday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reports.
The parliament complex was bombed overnight, but parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said no legislators were hurt. There were reports that some police officers were injured or killed but this has not been confirmed.
Erdoğan blames coup on Gülenists
The accusations by Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen is behind last night’s attempted coup is part of a familiar rhetoric and a long-running rivalry. So Is there any truth in it?
The traditional rivalry in Turkish society has been between secularists who look to the modern state’s founder Kemal Ataturk – notably the army and other state institutions – and Islamists.
So who are the Gülenists? Gülen, a cleric living in exile in Pennsylvania, leads a popular movement – Hizmet or “the service” – ostensibly campaigning for democratic accountability.
The centre of recent tension between the Gülenists and Erdoğan and his AKP is the president’s decision to blame Gülenists in the police and judiciary for initiating anti-corruption allegations in 2013 that targeted his supporters, including Erdoğan’s son Bilal.
Erdoğan responded by launching a purge of perceived Gülenists.
As the coup attempt unfolded on Friday night, a lawyer for the Turkish government, Robert Amsterdam, said “there are indications of direct involvement” of Gülenists. According to Turkish intelligence sources, Amsterdam said: “There are signs that Gülen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government.”
Gülen’s group, the Alliance for Shared Values, was quick to deny it, issuing a statement saying comments alleging the group’s involvement in the coup were “highly irresponsible” and that the group did not support the military intervention:
Events on the ground are moving quickly and it would be irresponsible for us to speculate on them. We remain concerned about the safety and security of Turkish citizens and those in Turkey right now.
For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gülen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy.
We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey.
Turkey closes border to Bulgaria
Bulgaria is boosting patrols along the border with Turkey, as Turkey has closed border crossings, Reuters reports:
The foreign ministry appealed to Bulgarians to cancel their travel plans to Turkey.
“We are following what is happening at our neighbours with concern,” prime minister Boiko Borisov told reporters at an emergency meeting with the defence and foreign ministers, as well as intelligence and security officials.
“Let’s hope it will regularise in a lawful and democratic manner … There are ways to topple a government and that in the democratic world happens through elections,” he said.
Bulgarian foreign minister Daniel Mitov spoke on the telephone with his Turkish counterpart and contacts were made by the special services, Borisov added.
The border crossings with Turkey on the Bulgarian side are open. A witness told private national BTV channel that entrance at Kapikule border crossing into Turkey is allowed, but exit towards Bulgaria is not and several cars with Bulgarians were blocked on Turkish territory.
Bulgaria has built a fence at its border with Turkey as part of its attempts to limit illegal crossings of migrants from conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
“The border crossings from the Turkish side are closed. We have beefed up the border with border police officers and army units,” Borisov said.
International reaction
US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says:
I am following the fast-moving developments in Turkey tonight with great concern. We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions, and basic human rights and freedoms – and support for the democratically elected civilian government.
All parties should work to avoid further violence and bloodshed, and the safety of American citizens and diplomatic missions must be ensured.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says:
We call for restraint by all parties. Canada supports the preservation of Turkish democracy, and condemns any attempt to subvert Turkey’s democratic institutions by force of arms.
At least 42 killed in Ankara
We have more information on those killed in Ankara overnight.
The prosecutor’s office says most of the 42 people who died were civilians.
Seventeen of the dead were police officers.
In addition, a senior Turkish official says 13 soldiers who tried to storm the presidential palace have been arrested.
Updated
Ömer Çelik, Turkey’s minister for EU affairs, has tweeted these images of the parliament building as dawn breaks in the country:
Bugün YÜCE MECLİS'e saldıranlar hainlere ders verme günüdür.. pic.twitter.com/OOqS3qvRC3
— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik) July 16, 2016
It was earlier reported that a number of police officers were killed in an explosion at a building in the parliament complex.
Turkey’s NTV television has cited the prosecutor’s office in Ankara saying that at least 42 people have been killed in the capital overnight.
This has not been confirmed and it’s not known at this stage whether those killed include military personnel involved in the coup, protesters who were urged to come on to the streets, or police officers who were reportedly hit in the explosion at the parliament building.
It’s still very unclear what is happening in Ankara, where rebel soldiers are still said to be firing, and an explosion earlier hit the parliament building.
Images from the capital show many people – as well as tanks – on the streets in scenes of protest and chaos. There are also images of people who appear to be dead or injured; we will not publish those.
Although it is evident from reports and images from Turkey that the situation is still extemely tense and unpredictable, prime minister Yildirim has told the state-run Anadolu news agency:
Things are getting better every minute.
Yildirim said people should remain in the streets to support the government.
But he warned that some air force planes flown by those engaged in the coup remain in the air. Those aircraft will be shot down, Yildirim said.
The Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim claims that those involved in the coup are now mostly under the control of military senior command – but that rebel soldiers are still firing in Istanbul and Ankara.
Yildirim says he has received reports that a general – one of those behind the coup – has been killed, and more than 130 others involved have been detained.
Ban Ki-moon: 'Military interference is unacceptable'
The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has also weighed in to call for an end to the attempted coup. In a statement, Ban called for “calm, non-violence and restraint”, saying it was “a moment of uncertainty”:
Military interference in the affairs of any state is unacceptable.
It will be crucial to quickly and peacefully affirm civilian rule and constitutional order in accordance with principles of democracy.
Preservation of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, remain of vital importance.
Turkey is not a member of the European Union, although it is seeking to be.
Officials of the EU – the president of the European council, Donald Tusk; the president of the European commission, Jean-Claude Juncker; and the EU high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini – have issued a statement supporting the Turkish government tonight:
Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law.
We call for a swift return to Turkey’s constitutional order. We continue to follow closely the developments and to coordinate with the 28 EU member states.
What we know so far
Reports coming out of Turkey remain conflicting and it will be some time before a clearer picture emerges of who – if anyone – is in control.
Here is what we know and don’t know at this stage.
- A military coup has been attempted in Turkey, in a bid to oust the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of undermining the country’s secular traditions.
- Erdoğan, who returned to Istanbul in the early hours of the morning from his holiday in the resort of Marmaris, said the attempted coup was “treason” undertaken by “a minority within our armed forces” and vowed to use it as an opportunity to “clean up” the army.
- The president urged people to take to the streets in defence of the government, prompting chaotic scenes as thousands protested alongside tanks.
- Turkish officials insisted the coup had been “repelled”, with more than 50 military officers arrested in Istanbul. General Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of Turkey’s military special forces, said:
Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed … Our people should know that we will overcome this ... We are in control of the situation.
- But reports from Turkey suggested the situation was far from under control, with gunfire heard in the capital, Ankara, and in Istanbul. Erdoğan said prime minister Binali Yildirim had given orders to “eradicate” those who were shooting.
- The state news agency Anadolu said a bomb had hit the parliament building in Ankara. The parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said the bomb hit one corner of a building inside the complex, injuring a number of police officers.
- Flights were diverted from Istanbul’s Ataturk airport and departures cancelled after reports of explosions there.
- Media outlets including CNN Turk and Hurriyet were overrun with soldiers and shut down, with some reports that journalists have been arrested.
- Authorities in Turkey may be blocking or slowing access to social media networks including Twitter and Facebook.
President Erdoğan also said his general secretary was abducted by coup makers, according to the Associated Press. There was no information on the chief of military staff.
Meanwhile in Istanbul, an official with the president’s office said more than 50 military officers have been arrested and large crowds have carried out multiple citizen arrests, the AP reports.
President Erdoğan: Uprising was treason
Turkish’s elected president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has just spoken on live TV in Turkey (earlier, he delivered remarks via the highly unorthodox format of a FaceTime broadcast on a mobile phone shown to a CNN Turkey TV camera).
Erdoğan said the uprising was an act of “treason” and that those responsible will pay a “heavy price”, according to Reuters.
The president also said the prime minister has given orders to “eradicate” those who are shooting from the air.
He further said the uprising was carried out by a “minority” within the military who can’t stomach unity of the country. Erdoğan said some in military have been taking orders from cleric Fethullah Gulen and that the attempted coup shows the Gulen structure is an armed terrorist organization. Gulen has denied involvement.
According to Reuters’ translation, the president said he would not hand Turkey over to occupiers and said the cabinet is functioning in Ankara. Erdoğan further said he will stay “with my people”.
Biz, bu kutlu davaya başımızı koyduk. Bu darbe girişimi Allah'ın izniyle püskürtülecektir.
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RT_Erdogan) July 16, 2016
Crowd gathers to greet president
NTV television is now showing footage of large crowds gathering at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport to greet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he emerges from a vehicle upon landing, the Associated Press reports.
BREAKING: Large crowds greet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he emerges from a vehicle at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 16, 2016
Explosions heard by Taksim Square - reports
There are reports of sounds of explosions in or near Taksim Square, where crowds have been gathering in the heart of Istanbul throughout the night.
It’s unclear if the blast sounds are explosions, sonic booms from fighter jets, or both.
The AP reports two large explosions near the square where, the agency states, police and military have been exchanging fire.
LIVE UPDATES: Witnesses say two more explosions hit Turkish parliament. Latest -https://t.co/MDDQYoN1C5 pic.twitter.com/QCqSpm1yJt
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 16, 2016
Shortly before, Reuters reported that around 30 Turkish soldiers who were part of a faction attempting to carry out the military coup surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by armed police.
The soldiers handed over their guns and were taken away in police vans as a fighter jet repeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows, Reuters reported.
Updated
The Guardian’s Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has filed this report from Istanbul:
As news of the attempted coup unfolded, chaos and panic erupted in Istiklal, Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfare. People ran in different directions, some away from the street and some into the streets. Restaurant owners gathered tables inside and pulled down shutters.
In Taksim sqaure at one end of Istiklal – where the country’s coups were made and unmade in the past 50 years – a group of soldiers, young in green helmets, rifles and military fatigues, stood blocking the square.
Mohamad, a 30-year-old office worker, stood watching the soldiers, dressed in a white shirt and blue slacks. “Turkey has regressed in the past few years under [president] Erdoğan, and the army came out to restore the balance that’s the traditional role of the army here.”
Gradually, another crowd opposed to the army gathered, pushing to the centre of the square, chanting “Army get out” and “no for the coup”. A shouting match between the two sides followed, and soon after the president called for his supporters to take to the streets, thousands flooded the square.
“I don’t support Erdoğan, but I don’t want the military to take away our democracy,” said Najdat, a 50 year old government functionary. “We have seen them before, and we have waited for democracy for 30 years.”
Soldiers enter CNN Türk studio
A group of soldiers has landed in the Dogan Media Center where CNN Türk is based, the news station is now reporting.
A Facebook Live video showed the chaos inside.
BREAKING A group of soldiers landed in Dogan Media Center where @cnnturk is based. They have entered the studio. pic.twitter.com/D2QMF6s8Xt
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016
BREAKING Coup plotters are ending @cnnturk's broadcast now. #TurkeyCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/YFUrphgFbX
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 16, 2016
There are also reports of the Hurriyet Daily News facing soldiers. The CNN building is also home to Kanal D television, the Dogan news agency and the Hurriyet paper, according to the Associated Press.
A group of putschist soldiers are now raiding our newspaper. They are coming to my floor pic.twitter.com/1OPlb74tqe
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016
Sorry for the poor pic quality but it's hard when you are mass-arrested during a coup attempt... pic.twitter.com/TwUC6Yqi71
— Emre KIZILKAYA (@ekizilkaya) July 16, 2016
Updated
Erdoğan's plane landing in Istanbul, official says
Reuters and others report that president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plane is landing in Istanbul:
BREAKING: Turkish official says Erdogan's plane landing in Istanbul https://t.co/Ki7gqHaqLl pic.twitter.com/RSJelsDVs1
— Reuters World (@ReutersWorld) July 16, 2016
Updated
Turkish official: coup has been 'repelled'
A Turkish national intelligence spokesman has claimed that the coup has been “repelled”, amid a concerted effort by both the government and military to portray the sense that their respective side is in power.
According to the Associated Press, government officials, including president Recep Erdoğan, have tried to play down reports that the military is in control.
At the same time, Gen Zekai Aksakalli, the commander of Turkey’s military special forces, said that “those who are attempting a coup will not succeed”. He told NTV television:
Our people should know that we will overcome this ... We are in control of the situation.
He also said some deaths and injuries were reported during the coup attempt, without providing any details.
Turkish media reports have also reported that MIT, the national intelligence agency, as saying the coup has been defeated, according to the Associated Press.
Live video from the streets of Istanbul and Ankara suggests that the situation remains fluid and chaotic.
Updated
Social media may be blocked
Turkey may be blocking or slowing access to social media networks amid an attempted military coup, although there are conflicting reports emerging from the country that’s been described as a “bastion of internet censorship” by the Electronic Freedom Foundation.
Turkey Blocks, an organization that monitors internet censorship in the country, tweeted on Friday evening that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were being blocked, but that Vimeo and Instagram were still functioning.
Confirmed: Twitter, Facebook & YouTube blocked in #Turkey at 10:50PM after apparent military uprising in #Turkey pic.twitter.com/J9ER5yOGYP
— Turkey Blocks (@TurkeyBlocks) July 15, 2016
Internet censorship in Turkey typically occurs when the government orders internet service providers to block access to certain domains, according to Deji Olukotun of Access Now, a digital rights advocacy group.
Read the Guardian’s full report on possible social media censorship here:
Bomb hits Turkish parliament – reports
A bomb has reportedly hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara, according to the Associated Press, citing Anadolu Agency, a state news agency.
BREAKING: Anadolu Agency reports a bomb has hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 15, 2016
The extent of any damage or possible injuries was not immediately clear. A resident who lived near the area told the AP that he “heard a massive explosion that shook buildings and saw a column of smoke”, but couldn’t confirm if it was coming directly from parliament. The person said fighter jets were flying low in the area.
On live TV, a cell phone feed of the Parliament, deputies say they had some sort bomb thrown at them. No major damage
— Zeynep Tufekci (@zeynep) July 15, 2016
CNN-Turk television reported some police officers and parliament workers were hurt in the bomb attack.
BEŞİKTAŞ'TA PATLAMAhttps://t.co/QRLWhMEOfI https://t.co/kxp5UTkWYc
— CNN Türk (@cnnturk) July 15, 2016
Nato chief: "full respect" for Turkish government
Nato’s chief has issued a call for “full respect” for Turkey’s democratic institutions and constitution, according to the Associated Press. Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement:
I have just spoken to the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. I am following events in Turkey closely and with concern.
The statement continued, “I call for calm and restraint, and full respect for Turkey’s democratic institutions and its constitution. ...Turkey is a valued Nato ally.”
Analysis: how a coup could destabilize a western ally
Here’s the Guardian’s analysis of how the attempted Turkey coup attempt could destabilize a western ally in a region already reeling from war, terrorism and mass migration:
The Turkish military’s apparent attempt to seize power on Friday unleashed panic in the streets and sent shockwaves through Nato and across the Middle East.
With the state broadcaster TRT off the air, and martial law and a curfew declared across the country, people in Istanbul scrambled to get indoors as military jets flew overhead.
The extraordinary turn of events also baffled many in the foreign policy community, many of whom perceived Turkey’s elected government as relatively stable.
Read the full story here:
It is now after 2.20am in Istanbul, but live video footage appears to show crowds flooding onto the streets, gathering the Bosphorus Bridge and Taksim Square, apparently heeding the request from president Recep Erdoğan to resist the attempted coup. The crowds are directly defying a command from the military, which has declared martial law and implemented a curfew.
TV footage is showing chaotic scenes; some shots appear to show jubilant crowds of hundreds waving flags. There is video of groups of men marching and chanting through Istanbul Ataturk International Airport, and footage of groups of men doing the same in residential streets in the suburbs of the city.
Still more footage, from other parts of the city, have shown civilians appearing to confront military vehicles on bridges, or near government buildings, alongside the sound of occasional gunfire.
Asker sokağa çıktı: Bu gece dakika dakika neler yaşandı? ➤ https://t.co/s5yudEk71P pic.twitter.com/tMIBWTCzOi
— CNN Türk (@cnnturk) July 15, 2016
One witness has told CNN that as many as 1,000 people are now at the airport, some of whom have gained access to the tarmac. Turkey’s DHA TV network has broadcast images of hundreds of men surrounding a military vehicle, chanting, shouting and occasionally hurling missiles and punches at military personnel, who are taking shelter behind riot shields. Others show crowds seemingly cheering men in military fatigues.
Obama: support democratically elected government
The White House has just released a statement on the reports of an attempted coup, saying that Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry “agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed”.
The state department will “continue to focus on the safety and security of US citizens in Turkey,” the statement added.
Tonight, @POTUS spoke with Secretary of State @JohnKerry about the ongoing situation in Turkey. pic.twitter.com/dcNGE0lJiN
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 15, 2016
Here’s some video footage capturing the chaos in Turkey right now, including scenes at the Bosphorus Bridge where armed personnel were seen patrolling and in the capital Ankara where gunshots were heard.
Former prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has told al-Jazeera in an interview that the attempted coup is utilizing “illegal methods” and constitutes an “an attack against democracy”.
From the New York Times, Davutoğlu said:
Stability of Turkey means stability of many other countries, and the stability of Turkey means the stability of a safe haven of millions of refugees. If it is harmed, the domino effect cannot be prevented.
Davutoğlu repeatedly suggested that the coup was being led merely by a “clique” in the military and said he expected the coup to fail.
“Throughout my life we have seen many attempts by these types of cliques in the army,” he said. “They were not able to succeed for a long time and, after so many years, I am sure we will protect our dignity, our democracy.”
Former #Turkey PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu urges civilians to come out on the streets against #TurkeyCoup on @AJEnglish pic.twitter.com/kaYgKLPLrg
— Alessandra Bonomolo (@alesbon) July 15, 2016
Updated
Here’s a live-stream looking onto the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul:
The US state department has issued an “emergency alert” for Americans in Turkey, saying:
Shots fired and explosions have been heard in Ankara and both bridges in Istanbul, the Bosphorous and Faith Sultan Mehmet, are now closed. Martial law and a curfew have been imposed in Turkey. All flights at Atatürk Istanbul airport have been suspended.
The statement notes that although there are reports that social media may be blocked, US citizens should attempt to contact family and friends by phone or email.
New Emergency Message for US citizens in #Turkey pic.twitter.com/De1c20pmrz
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016
Updated
Tanks open fire - reports
Tanks have opened fire near the Turkish parliament building, Reuters reports, following similar reports from NTV and local journalists about gunfire in Ankara and Istanbul.
Protesters have heard Erdoğan’s call to take to the streets, though, and some are chanting “shoulder to shoulder against the coup”. Others have squared off with military forces who’ve closed bridges and streets. In one video, a policeman and military officer argue in a crowd in the street; in another, cars jammed in traffic honked horns in unison as people mill among them. In a third, a crowd sings and lifts up a huge Turkish flag.
Police now arresting the Army. #Turkey has gone crazy - @AboShla5Libralypic.twitter.com/hucBFou1Vf
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) July 15, 2016
Photos posted on social media shows protesters climbing onto a tank and challenging the military, and live video, streaming on Facebook, showed throngs of people in the streets around the country.
DURUM| Tankların üstünde siviller var, askerlere müdahale ediliyor pic.twitter.com/gE0eMQj58P
— MUSA KESLER (@MuSaKesLeR) July 15, 2016
Updated
Prof Omer Taspinar, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution who has repeatedly warned of a military coup in Turkey in recent months, said a critical question would be the degree to which the entire military command was involved in the attempted coup:
The situation is really fluid. Right now the question is whether the attempted coup is from the top command, with the top brass involved, or a colonel-level or officer-coup, from a certain segment of the army. There are indications right now that it is the latter. The chief of staff of the military has not spoken yet and traditionally with Turkish coups you would expect the head of the military to be on TV taking command.”
He continued: “This will rattle the Turkish markets. It will tarnish the country’s image. My analysis is that this will certainly be embarrassing for the country’s recently re-elected president, Recep Erdoğan. The signs are chaotic right now but I think the rumors of Erdoğan’s demise would be highly exaggerated given he has been on TV.”
Taspinar said the most dangerous risk was a breakout in fighting between divisions within the Turkish military and police forces and intelligence factions aligned between with Erdoğan’s interior ministry. “I don’t expect that to happen, but if it does it would be devastating to Turkey.”
Updated
What we know so far
- There is chaos and confusion in Turkey amid reports of an attempted military coup.
- Turkey’s armed forces have said they “fully seized control” of the country on Friday night.
- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Turks to take to the streets in a show of support for the government.
- Erdoğan just made a statement in an interview over FaceTime with CNN Turk.
-
Prime minister Binali Yıldırım said: “Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy.”
- Gunshots are being heard in the capital Ankara as military planes flew low overhead.
- Soldiers have blocked entry to Atatürk airport, and four stations are reportedly stationed there.
Updated
Here’s video of the incredible moment of Erdoğan using FaceTime to broadcast his message.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan FaceTimes with TV station, says uprising will be unsuccessful https://t.co/MOl43YZhRP
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 15, 2016
Updated
Erdoğan statement on FaceTime
President Erdoğan called on Turks to take to the streets in a surreal interview with CNN Türk, in which he was forced to speak to the network via a mobile phone and FaceTime.
Erdogan making a statement via Facetime pic.twitter.com/cLVxL20fSg
— Ahmed Al Omran (@ahmed) July 15, 2016
I urge the Turkish people to gather at public squares and airports. ... There is no power higher than the power of the people.”
He added that he believes the coup attempt will be thwarted soon, and that there will be a “strong response” to those responsible for the coup attempt. They will receive the “heavy price”, he said.
The president was speaking from an undisclosed location, and NBC News, citing an anonymous US military source, said that his plane had been refused landing rights in Istanbul.
Updated
Boris Johnson echoing the earlier statement from Foreign Office officials:
Very concerned by events unfolding in #Turkey. Our Embassy is monitoring the situation closely. Brits should follow FCO website for advice
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 15, 2016
Updated
A presidential source has said: “This is a coup attempt by the Gulen movement, at which several known Gulenists hinted in recent months. The perpetrators have violated the chain in command.”
BREAKING Turkish President Erdoğan blames #Gulenist network & calls on public to go to public squares and airports. pic.twitter.com/vmQlYLyv35
— CNN Türk ENG (@CNNTURK_ENG) July 15, 2016
John Kerry, US secretary of state, said he had heard the reports but could not comment. “I hope there will be stability and peace and continuity within Turkey,” he said while visiting Moscow.
Ned Price, spokesperson for the national security council at the White House, said: “The president’s national security team has apprised him of the unfolding situation in Turkey. The president will continue to receive regular updates.”
Turkey has the second biggest army in Nato after the US. It was a crucial ally during the cold war, although relations hit a bump in March 2003 when Turkey refused to let the US to invade Iraq from the north through Turkish territory.
Now they are military partners, albeit with significant political differences, in the fight against Islamic State. Last year Turkey agreed to let US warplanes and armed drones use the Incirlik air base, just 60 miles from the north-west Syrian border, to carry out raids against Isis. The aircraft had previously flown from Iraq or Arab allies such as Jordan.
Loss of the Turkish base would be a severe blow to the ongoing effort against Isis, especially after recent terrorist attacks within Belgium, France, Turkey and the US itself.
Turkey, which by the end of 2015 was hosting 2.5 million refugees – mostly from neighbouring Syria, has objected to US support for Kurdish forces operating in northern Syria against Isis. Washington has said it draws a clear distinction between the PKK, a foreign terrorist organisation, and the Syrian Kurds, whom it sees as one of many groups fighting Isis.
Mark Toner, deputy spokesperson for the US State Department, said last month: “Turkey is playing an important role with regard to Syria, with regard to the conflict there, both from the Assad regime as well as with Daesh [Isis]. So I don’t want to underplay that. But they have, as many countries do within the coalition, sometimes different priorities, different ideas about how to go about that, and that’s something we’re in constant dialogue with them about and working to coordinate better.”
Updated
This is how the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the nation amid a military coup this evening:
Erdoğan addressing the nation like this #Turkey pic.twitter.com/Y7UYjazQZN
— Amberin Zaman (@amberinzaman) July 15, 2016
My colleague Alan Yuhas says that Erdoğan said believed the coup attempt would be thwarted soon and that there would be a “strong response” to those responsible for the coup attempt. They will pay a “heavy price”, he said.
The president was speaking from an undisclosed location and NBC News, citing an anonymous US military source, said that his plane had been refused landing rights in Istanbul.
Updated
The Foreign Office has advised British citizens in Turkey to avoid public places and remain vigilant until the situation there becomes clearer. A statement read: “We are concerned by events unfolding in Ankara and Istanbul.”
Updated
Access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was restricted in Turkey on Friday, shortly after news broke that the military coup was under way, according to two internet monitoring groups.
Reuters reported that Turkey Blocks, a group that monitors internet shutdowns in the country, and Dyn, which monitors internet performance and traffic globally, both said it was difficult or impossible to access social media services in Turkey.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously restricted access to some social media platforms.
Updated
The Turkish state broadcaster TRT has now gone off air, say the Reuters news agency and sources in Turkey.
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the coup is the work of a minority within the military.
Speaking to CNN Turk, he adds: “We will overcome this.”
Updated
My colleague Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is in Istanbul. He reports that there is chaos on the main thoroughfare Istiklal, with people running in all directions.
Restaurants and shops are closing, somtehing is happening on Taksim Square and Tarlabashi Boulevard seems to be closed.
Cars are honking their horns and driving on the wrong side of the road. A lot of people are walking from the direction of Taksim. There is a sense of agitation, with people checking their phones or listening to the radio.
UPDATE —Turkish citizens reacting to coup attempt begin pouring onto streets across Turkey https://t.co/1JCtBz38UR pic.twitter.com/RsFSh5krAT
— DAILY SABAH (@DailySabah) July 15, 2016
More details from the statement read out on the state broadcaster TRT at the behest of the military faction that seems to be behind the coup: It says that the freedom of Turkish citizens is guaranteed by what is referred to as a “peace council”, regardless of religion, race or language.
It says the Peace Council will not allow public order to be damaged.
It is worth remembering at this point that the Turkish government still claims to be in charge.
An EU source monitoring events has told Reuters that military forces have control of airports and strategic points in Istanbul.
Updated
The White House says President Obama is aware of the developments in Turkey and will receive regular updates.
Turkish military broadcasts on state TV amid coup reports
An announcement on the Turkish state broadcaster TRT says that a curfew has been declared across Turkey and that airports are closed. The announcer says they are being made to read a statement by the military.
The statement promises a new constitution for the country and says that democracy and the secular rule of law had been undermined. Martial law has also been imposed, it adds.
#Breaking :Civilians rush to withdraw money from ATM machines in #Turkey as military attempts coup via @RudawEnglish pic.twitter.com/iuARIMMgbj
— حسن سجواني (@HSajwanization) July 15, 2016
Updated
The head of the Istanbul branch of Turkey’s ruling AK party says soldiers entered the party building and asked them to leave, CNN Turk reports.
Confirming media reports of gunshots & possible attempted uprising in #Turkey. Remain vigilant.
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016
US citizens in #Turkey: please contact family & friends to let them know you are safe.
— Travel - State Dept (@TravelGov) July 15, 2016
France’s foreign ministry has also advised its citizens in Turkey to stay indoors.
Updated
The US secretary of state John Kerry says he hopes there will be peace, stability and unity within Turkey amid reports that a military coup is underway.
Soldiers are inside the buildings of the Turkish state broadcaster TRT in the country’s capital Ankara, a correspondent for that outlet tells the Reuters news agency.
We understand that the Turkish president is due to make a statement shortly.
The full Turkish military statement reads: “Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedoms, the rule of law and general security that was damaged.
“All international agreements are still valid. We hope that all of our good relationships with all countries will continue.”
The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is on holiday and reportedly outside the country. Reuters has quoted a source within his office as saying that he is safe.
Updated
There are numerous reports that hostages have been taken in the Turkish capital, Ankara. CNN Turk say they’re being held at a military HQ there.
The state-run Anadolu press agency says the chief of military staff is among those being held.
Presidential sources say: “This is an attack against Turkish democracy. A group within the armed forces has made an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government outside the chain of command.
“The statement made on behalf of the Armed Forces wasn’t authorised by the military command. We urge the world to stand in solidarity with the Turkish people.”
Some more detail on the statement said to come from Turkey’s armed forces. They have reportedly said in emails reported on Turkish TV that they have taken power to protect the democratic order and to maintain human rights.
They added that all of Turkey’s existing foreign relations would be maintained and that the rule of law would remain the priority. The Guardian has not seen the correspondence and, therefore, can yet verify where it has come from or on behalf of whom - exactly - it was sent.
Komutanin soyledikleri...darbe kesin.#darbe #kopru pic.twitter.com/ZBeh6hZmut
— Brahmaçarya (@parya12342) July 15, 2016
A solider in Istanbul has been filmed saying “it’s a coup, go home.”
The Associated Press is now carrying fuller quotes from the Turkish prime minister’s interview with NTV.
Having confirmed his belief that an attempted coup was underway, Yıldırım said: “We are focusing on the possibility of an attempt [coup]. There was an illegal act by a group within the military that was acting out of the chain of military command. Our people should know that we will not allow any activity that would harm democracy.”
The Dogan news agency said one-way traffic on the Bosporus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges were blocked. Video footage showed the bridge being blocked by military vehicles.
Updated
Military claims takeover of Turkey
The Turkish military says in a statement that it has taken over, according to Reuters.
Updated
The Guardian has heard reports that the UN has emailed staff, saying a coup attempt is underway.
According to the Associated Press, Yıldırım, who was speaking to the local TV station NTV, said: “It is correct that there was an attempt.” He provided no further details but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy”.
Updated
Yıldırım says those responsible for what he has called an attempted military coup will pay the highest price.
Updated
A witness in the country’s capital told Reuters that gunshots were heard as military jets and helicopters were seen flying overhead. Witnesses in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, also spotted helicopters overhead, the agency reported.
The local broadcaster NTV reported that both of Istanbul’s bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, had been closed to traffic. It was not immediately clear if the events were related.
The Turkish prime minister Binali Yıldırım says that an attempted coup by parts of the military has been launched, according to Reuters. He reportedly added that security forces were doing what they could to resolve the situation.
Updated
