Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on
Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after
crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets and
dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
More than 90 people were killed in violence that
erupted late on Friday after a faction of the armed forces attempted to seize
power using tanks and attack helicopters, some strafing the headquarters of
Turkish intelligence and parliament in Ankara, others seizing a major bridge in
Istanbul.
Erdogan appeared to accuse the
coup plotters of trying to kill him, and promised to purge the armed forces
which in the past have staged a number of successful coups. "They will pay
a heavy price for this," he said. "This uprising is a gift from God
to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army."
Turkish authorities have already
detained around 1,500 members of the armed forces, officials said. Chief of
staff Hulusi Akar, who had been reported held hostage by the rebels, has been
rescued, a senior official said.
A successful overthrow of Erdogan,
who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would have marked one of the biggest shifts in
the Middle East in years, transforming a major U.S. ally while war rages on its
border.
However, a failed coup attempt
could still destabilise a NATO member that lies between the European Union and
the chaos of Syria, with Islamic State bombers targeting Turkish cities and the
government also at war with Kurdish separatists.
Erdogan, who had been holidaying
on the southwest coast when the coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before
dawn on Saturday and was shown on TV outside Ataturk Airport.
Addressing a crowd of thousands of
flag-waving supporters at the airport later, Erdogan said the government
remained at the helm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.
Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted
ideology lies deeply at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular
principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of
Marmaris.
"They bombed places I had
departed right after I was gone," he said. "They probably thought we
were still there."
The death toll has risen to 90,
state-run Anadolu Agency reported, with 1,154 people wounded.
Turkish authorities have detained
1,563 military personnel across the country.
SMART PHONE ADDRESS
In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre,
Erdogan used social media to speak to the Turkish people - even though he is an
avowed enemy of such technology when his opponents use it, frequently targeting
Twitter and Facebook.
At one point Erdogan effectively
addressed the nation via a video calling service, appearing on the smart phone
of a CNN Turk reporter who held it up to a studio camera so that viewers to the
network could see him.
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