The Turkish military coup appears to have failed as soldiers surrender after many dead and hundreds arrested.
Turkish President Erdogan made a statement on Turkish television using his iPhone and FaceTime, calling on people to take to the streets to oppose the uprising.
Crowds confronted the coup plotters and gunfire and explosions were heard. At least 60 people died in the exchanges.
The president has now returned to Istanbul, calling the coup attempt an “act of treason” and saying the army must be cleansed. He told crowds the government was now back in control.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim ordered the military to shoot down aircraft being used by coup plotters, with a helicopter being shot down by an F-16.
At least 60 people are understood to have died with more than 700 members of the armed forces have been detained. 17 Turkish police officers were killed in a helicopter attack at the police special forces headquarters just outside of Ankara.
Reuters reported that in early hours of Saturday local time, the coup appears to have “crumbled” as crowds defied pro-coup military orders and gathered in major squares of Istanbul and Ankara to oppose the coup. Reuters also reported pro-coup soldiers surrendering to the police in Taksim Square, Istanbul.
After uncertainty regarding President Erdoğan’s location, senior Turkish officials stated to news agencies that President Erdoğan’s plane travelled to and landed in Istanbul. These reports were later confirmed. Erdoğan appeared on live television from Istanbul and he stated that he had plans to “clean up” the army.
OMG and Turkey wants to join the EU glad we are getting out.
I’ve said for a while that the Turks ought to be watched. I wouldn’t trust either side nor would I favour a Muslim country join the EU esp when Erdogan is trying to create a religious Islamic rule of law as it’s often reported. My Observation of Turkey now is why the Sudden use of its forces now in Syria and where were they when the Region needed leadership? What did the Arab spring do? Regretfully as we’ve seen, France, the US and UK have faced the heavy burden of War and are becoming the continuous victims of successful plots… Read more »
Shame to soldiers who surrendered you are going to be killed
But we’re safer in the EU.. honest
Erdogan will use it as an excuse to take more powers to himself
A pity the coup failed, the next one wont.
Their last like 4 have failed. Next one probably will too.
Hopefully not.
Well that was a load of pants
Wouldn’t want to be in their shoes… ?
Yeah I bet they stink
Tom Barker
great army cant even beat unarmed civilians
Not unarmed civilians that’s was the issue I think, half of the army and the police are loyal.
Jake Hayes one up for democracy
Can’t slaughter civilians Fs tthey’d be no better than the bugger they where deposing. God bless them. Democracy is done for.
Shame
Will be a far few unmarked graves over the next few days
Disgraceful. Fkn surrendering?.??
Once Erdogan got away it was more or less inevitable that the coup would fail. They had one shot at grabbing him and they missed him apparently.
After that he and the AKP were able to dictate the pace of things and take the momentum away from the Army. I think if the Army had managed to kidnap Erdogan then things would have been massively different.
Real shame.
No one does a coup like the Egyptians, Fact!
I for one am glad the coup failed, I’m no lover of Erdogan but he’s better than Turkey becoming a civil war and linking with the Syrian civil war, turkey has acted a a buffer between Europe and the Middle East for years, you think it’s bad now thank god it failed!
You have a valid and rational point.
Spineless surrender monkeys like the French. White flags. Thought you Islamists had a backbone !
They couldn’t call their president winning democracy because he lost the first election then he demanded a second one!!! Turkey is now in the hands of terrorist sympathisers… This k God we voted out because were have this lot in the eu.. Don’t believe me why did Britain give Turkey 1billion a year for integration
Plus the coup didn’t have the full support of the army or its airforce… For example. A Turkish f16 shot down a Turkish helicopter
Not a great army if they gave up after a few hours
I can’t help but feel that Erdogan has done exactly what Hitler did with the Reichstag fire incident. You can bet he will use it to his advantage to further erode personal liberties and democracy in Turkey. This coup only failed because it was a small faction within the army, had the entire army mutinied then he probably would have been ousted very quickly