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Turkey PM says attempted coup under way by military group Military coup under way in Turkey as President Erdoğan tries to assert control
(about 1 hour later)
Turkey’s prime minister Binali Yildirim has said a group within Turkey’s military has engaged in what appeared to be an attempted coup. Members of the Turkish military said a coup was under way in the country, despite its elected president claiming that the attempt had failed and his government remained in power.
Related: Turkey coup attempt: gunfire in Ankara as military aircraft fly over capitalRelated: Turkey coup attempt: gunfire in Ankara as military aircraft fly over capital
Yildirim told NTV television on Friday: “It is correct that there was an attempt.” In a statement released through Turkish TV channels on Friday night, people claiming to speak for the Turkish military said the army was now in charge of the country and promised to uphold human rights.
Yildirim didn’t provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy”. In response, a spokesman for the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said the coup had been attempted by only a faction of the army and that he was still in command of the country.
Gunshots were heard in the Turkish capital of Ankara, a Reuters witness said, as military jets and helicopters were seen flying overhead. “Turkey’s democratically elected president and government are in power. We will not tolerate attempts to undermine our democracy.”
Reuters witnesses in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, also spotted helicopters overhead, while the city’s Bosphorus bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge were both closed, local television channels reported, without giving a reason. He added: “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.”
CNN Turkey showed two military vehicles and a group of soldiers lined up at the entrance of one of the bridges in Turkey’s biggest city. Gunshots were heard in the capital Ankara as military planes flew low overhead. Army vehicles fanned through Istanbul, Turkey’s second city, with tanks seen outside the country’s main airport, and military trucks were filmed blocking the bridges connecting the city’s Asian and European sides. A soldier was filmed telling passersby: “It’s a coup, go home.”
It was not immediately clear if the events were related. Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yildirim, echoed the president’s words, saying: “Some people illegally undertook an illegal action outside of the chain of command. The government elected by the people remains in charge. This government will only go when the people say so.”
More details soon... 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 civilian administrations, shoring up his position during a decade of economic success.
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 has also spilled over into Turkey, most notably with Islamic State mounting a series of terror attacks across the country in the past year, killing hundreds.