A military coup attempting to topple the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by a military faction is underway in Turkey. Turkey’s military just announced that army had taken over “the entire management of the country to restore rule of law”.
The Dogan news agency published a statement from the military saying that it had” fully seized control” over the country. It said the coup was “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated.”
The coup plotters have imposed martial law and said that a Peace Council will govern the country.
However, Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, appeared on live television to say that those behind the coup will pay dearly, as the coup is happening without chain of command. Reports say the president is safe.
“The government elected by the people remains in charge,” he said. “This government will only go when the people say so.”
Gunfire was heard near Istanbul police headquarters and streets of Ankara, the capital.Turkish troops haave closed off two major bridges over the Bosphorus Strait.
Turkish soldiers block Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge on Friday. The bridges across the Bosphorus Strait separate the European and Asian sides of the city
Turkish military tanks have also been deployed outside the Ataturk International Airport, Istanbul, with jets flying low over the capital and troops seizing the state-run television station. The Turkish Chief of Military Staff has been taken hostage, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
President Erdogan, the powerful Turkish leader, has effectively ruled the country since his Islamist-leaning political party took control of the country in 2002.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said from Moscow that the U.S. U.S. is hoping for “stability, peace and continuity within Turkey.”
The situation is still confusing and it is hard to say who is in charge. President Erdogan has, via iphone, asked the citizens to go out on the street to defend their democracy against an uprising by a minority within the military.
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