President Tayyip Erdogan said the coup was defeated and urged people to stand up for 'peace & democracy'.
Ankara:
Turkish forces closed in on the last remnants of a bloody military coup on Saturday that left over 250 dead and over 1,000 injured. President Tayyip Erdogan, who flew into the capital Ankara early morning, said the defiance was defeated and urged people to stand up for "peace and democracy". Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the attempt was a "black stain" on Turkish democracy, adding that the situation was "completely under control".
Following are the 10 latest developments in this story:
- People in Turkey took to the streets after the President urged for support against a "minority in the military" who attempted to overthrow the government. 41 police officers, two soldiers and 104 people described as "coup plotters" were killed in the overnight fighting, along with 47 civilian casualties who took on the renegade troops, confirmed newly-appointed acting chief of the army general staff, General Umit Dundar.
- Denouncing the coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "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."
- His statement came as around 200 soldiers involved in the coup attempt surrendered at the Turkish military headquarters, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air, live footage on CNN Turk showed.
- However, sounds of huge blasts, including at least one bomb that hit the parliament complex, continued to echo across the capital Ankara and in Istanbul throughout the morning. An email from the Turkish military General Staff's press office address said the faction behind the attempted coup was still determinedly fighting all those who try to oppose it.
- Earlier, President Erdogan blasted the coup attempt by a faction of the army as "treason", and put the blame on supporters of his arch-foe, US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen. He also said coup supporters in the military "will pay a heavy price for their treason to Turkey."
- The president also said his hotel in the Aegean coast resort of Marmaris was bombed after he left. But he remained defiant, vowing: "We will not leave our country to occupiers."
- Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, said more than 120 arrests were made and has called all legislators for an emergency meeting on Saturday.
- Reports in state-run Turkish media had earlier said that 17 police officers were killed in a helicopter attack on Special Forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara on Friday night as elements of the Turkish military, backed by tanks, staged an attempted coup.
- "The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," said a military statement quoted by Turkish media. It said the move had been made "in order to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted."
- India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said the 148 Students along with 38 officials, who had sent a video message for rescue after violence broke out in Turkey were safe. The Indian Embassy had earlier also advised all Indian nationals to avoid public places and remain indoors. Emergency contact numbers Indian nationals - in Ankara (+905303142203) and in Istanbul (+905305671095).
