An attempted military coup threw Turkey into chaos Friday, with nearly 200 reported dead as soldiers, police and protesters clashed in the streets.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport early Saturday morning as government officials declared that the coup had been repelled.
He later told a crowd of flag-waving supporters that those behind the military uprising would pay for their "treason."
As events unfolded late Friday, the president, an Islamist who ascended to power as prime minister in 2003, spoke to a television station via Facetime and said that the action was "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces."
Explosions rocked the capital of Ankara, where smoke was seen billowing from the parliament building, as helicopters and jets flew overhead and Turkey's military released statements saying that it had "fully seized control."
Martial law was declared, access to social media was limited, and a curfew was imposed by the armed forces attempting to gain control of the NATO-member country.
Erdogan, speaking from an undisclosed location, told his supporters to defy the curfew and thousands were seen pouring out into the streets.
Gunfire was reported as pro-government police confronted camouflaged soldiers guarding checkpoints with tanks around the capital as well as in Istanbul.
State-run Anadolu Agency saying the cops were killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.
The agency said Saturday morning that a pro-coup helicopter had been shot down outside the capital, where an explosion was also heard at a building that housed a state-run television station.
Gen. Umit Dundar, acting general chief of staff, 47 civilians, 41 police, and two soldiers were killed along with 104 "coup plotters."
Anadolu said that more than 1,000 people had been injured in the night's events.
Clashes extended from the capital to Istanbul, and heavily armed soldiers were photographed blocking roadways near the city's Ataturk Airport, where militants killed 41 people in a terrorist attack last month.
Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters on July 15, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Reports have suggested that a group within Turkey's military have attempted to overthrow the government.
Protestors came to the airport and the city's Taksim Square after Erdogan called on citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, with civilians stopping armored vehicles and police arresting soldiers.
Footage on CNN-Turk showed columns of soldiers surrendering to pro-government forces in Istanbul, and Anadolu reported that more than 1,500 armed forces members had been detained.
Some from the pro-coup faction were still fighting early Saturday.
Turkey’s Istanbul-based first army commander said soldiers involved in an attempted coup “represent a small group” and “there is no cause for concern,” according to the Anadolu Agency.
The nation of 74.93 million straddles the edges of eastern Europe and western Asia and shares borders with Greece and Iran as well as Syria and Iraq to the south.
Widespread violence has threatened to destabilize a western ally in a region already rocked by Islamic radicalism and years of war.
The secular military has long clashed with the country’s Islamic-leaning government, and held a successful coup in 1997 to depose the Islamist Welfare Party.
A news agency published a statement from the military saying the group hoped “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms.”
The White House said President Obama talked with Secretary of State Kerry, and the two agreed that “all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.”
Hillary Clinton, who has previously criticized Turkey's response in fighting ISIS, released a statement saying that she was following the "fast-moving" developments and "We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions and basic human rights and freedoms - and support for the democratically elected civilian government."
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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Istanbul's Ataturk Airport early Saturday morning as government officials declared that the coup had been repelled.
He later told a crowd of flag-waving supporters that those behind the military uprising would pay for their "treason."
As events unfolded late Friday, the president, an Islamist who ascended to power as prime minister in 2003, spoke to a television station via Facetime and said that the action was "an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces."
Explosions rocked the capital of Ankara, where smoke was seen billowing from the parliament building, as helicopters and jets flew overhead and Turkey's military released statements saying that it had "fully seized control."
Martial law was declared, access to social media was limited, and a curfew was imposed by the armed forces attempting to gain control of the NATO-member country.
Erdogan, speaking from an undisclosed location, told his supporters to defy the curfew and thousands were seen pouring out into the streets.
Gunfire was reported as pro-government police confronted camouflaged soldiers guarding checkpoints with tanks around the capital as well as in Istanbul.
State-run Anadolu Agency saying the cops were killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.
The agency said Saturday morning that a pro-coup helicopter had been shot down outside the capital, where an explosion was also heard at a building that housed a state-run television station.
Gen. Umit Dundar, acting general chief of staff, 47 civilians, 41 police, and two soldiers were killed along with 104 "coup plotters."
Anadolu said that more than 1,000 people had been injured in the night's events.
Clashes extended from the capital to Istanbul, and heavily armed soldiers were photographed blocking roadways near the city's Ataturk Airport, where militants killed 41 people in a terrorist attack last month.
Police officers stand guard near the Turkish military headquarters on July 15, 2016 in Ankara, Turkey. Istanbul's bridges across the Bosphorus, the strait separating the European and Asian sides of the city, have been closed to traffic. Reports have suggested that a group within Turkey's military have attempted to overthrow the government.
Protestors came to the airport and the city's Taksim Square after Erdogan called on citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, with civilians stopping armored vehicles and police arresting soldiers.
Footage on CNN-Turk showed columns of soldiers surrendering to pro-government forces in Istanbul, and Anadolu reported that more than 1,500 armed forces members had been detained.
Some from the pro-coup faction were still fighting early Saturday.
Turkey’s Istanbul-based first army commander said soldiers involved in an attempted coup “represent a small group” and “there is no cause for concern,” according to the Anadolu Agency.
The nation of 74.93 million straddles the edges of eastern Europe and western Asia and shares borders with Greece and Iran as well as Syria and Iraq to the south.
Widespread violence has threatened to destabilize a western ally in a region already rocked by Islamic radicalism and years of war.
The secular military has long clashed with the country’s Islamic-leaning government, and held a successful coup in 1997 to depose the Islamist Welfare Party.
A news agency published a statement from the military saying the group hoped “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms.”
The White House said President Obama talked with Secretary of State Kerry, and the two agreed that “all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.”
Hillary Clinton, who has previously criticized Turkey's response in fighting ISIS, released a statement saying that she was following the "fast-moving" developments and "We should all urge calm and respect for laws, institutions and basic human rights and freedoms - and support for the democratically elected civilian government."
read more
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