Turkey military took over imposed martial law and instituted a curfew but Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan took to Facetime to encourage people to take to the streets to squash the coup.
This morning Turkey’s President told Turkey citizens that the attempted military coup was over and the government in charge after a night of gunfire, army tanks rolling on the streets and explosions. One of the helicopters being flown by forces involved in the coup attempt was shot down over the capital Ankara.
“Now I’m addressing those in Pennsylvania. The betrayal you have shown to this nation and to this community, that’s enough. If you have the courage, come back to your country. If you can. You will not have the means to turn this country into a mess from where you are.” Said the President during his live address, blaming Fethullah Gulen, a high-profile political figure and religious scholar based in U.S., says Ivan Watson, CNN’s Senior International Correspondent.
Mr Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey,” he said.
According to media reports at least 60 people have died and 1000 more injured across the Asian country. At least 754 people have been arrested following the coup attempt, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reports
“Our country has been subjected to treacherous enemy attack, which displays betrayal to the nation, their uniforms and morals. The necessary response has been shown to the enemy and it is still being shown,” said Ömer Çelik, Turkey’s EU negotiator
“Already many of the soldiers involved in Ankara have been arrested.” Said Mehmet Simsek, the Deputy Prime Minister
CNN Turk is broadcasting again. Earlier, staff were forced out of the building at gunpoint.
“The helicopter landed in the parking lot with about 15 soldiers. They entered the building and forced my colleagues to leave the building,” Ferhat Boratav, CNN Turk Editor in Chief told CNN.
The surrender of one unit of 60 soldiers, who had taken control of one of the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul, was shown live on TV on Saturday morning.
“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.” Said the Turkish foreign ministry
Latest reports say that a total of 1,563 military officers have been detained across #Turkey – senior Turkish official.
Here are some tweets from some senior government officials in Turkey
Silahını MİLLETE doğrultanlar, demokrasiye kurşun sıkanlar, tankla, bombayla saldıranlar hesap verecek #DarbeyeHayır pic.twitter.com/rLtO8At1Eh
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) July 16, 2016
Bugün YÜCE MECLİS'e saldıranlar hainlere ders verme günüdür.. pic.twitter.com/OOqS3qvRC3
— Ömer Çelik (@omerrcelik) July 16, 2016
