Turkey coup attempt: military claims government takeover – Breaking News Live Feed

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.

In a statement released through Turkish television 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.

In response, a spokesman for the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the coup had been attempted by only a faction of the army, and that he was still in command of the country.

“Turkey’s democratically elected president and government are in power. We will not tolerate attempts to undermine our democracy.”

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.”

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.”

Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yildirim, echoed his presidency’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.”

Turkey has a long history of coups, the most recent occurring in 1997, and one of the most brutal in 1980. President Erdogan’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 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.

What we know

• Around 3:30 PM EST, reports began streaming in on social media of major military operations in Ankara and Istanbul.
• In Ankara, tanks rolled through city streets, planes flew overhead, and military vehicles surrounded Army HQ.
• Istanbul’s two main bridges, the Bosphorus and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet, were blocked off by soldiers. Tanks rolled in to Istanbul’s international airport:
• Around 4 pm, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim went on TV to announce that it is a coup attempt. “A group in the military got engaged in a revolt,” Yildrim said, according to New York Times columnist Mustafa Akyol.
• Yildrim vowed not to let the coup succeed.
• At around 4:30 pm, a statement sourced to the “Turkish Armed Forces” claimed that the military had seized control of the government.
• The statement suggested the motivation was protecting Turkish democracy: “Turkish Armed Forces have completely taken over the administration of the country to reinstate constitutional order, human rights and freedom
• President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country’s quasi-authoritarian leader and the real power in Turkey’s government, is currently on vacation, and out of the capital.
• Around 5:30, Erdogan delivered an address to the nation via Skype. It blamed the coup on a “minority member of the military,” and a “parallel structure.” The latter phrase, according to Akyol,  is a reference to the Gulenist movement — an influential religious and political movement that used to be aligned with Erdogan but has since turned against him.
• Erdogan encouraged Turks to take to the streets in protest, specifically occupying airports and public squares.
• Turkey’s state news agency claims that the coup leaders have taken the military’s chief of staff captive.
• Social media have been shut down.
• Martial law imposed and curfew declared across country.
• Erdogan Urges Turks “Resist Coup To Death”

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• What we don’t know

• Who the coup leaders are, exactly, inside the military.
• How much of the military is on their side versus the government’s
• What faction is currently winning the struggle for control over Turkish institutions.
• Why the coup was launched, aside from the military’s own statement.