A coup d'etat was on Friday attempted by the military in Turkey with a faction of the military taking over state TV, imposing martial law and a curfew and reportedly attacking the police headquarters in the capital of Ankara.
According to a statement released by the Turkish embassy in US, "The situation unfolded in Turkey was a coup attempt to overthrow the democratically-elected government. This attempt was foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity. Our President and Government are in charge. Turkish Armed Forces was not involved in the coup attempt in its entirety. It was conducted by a clique within the Armed Forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation".
ASP news on Saturday reported that at least 90 people has been killed in the attempted coup with most of the deaths being civilians. State-run Anadolu Agency reported Saturday morning that 1,563 members of armed forces have been detained across the country including 29 colonels and 5 generals were relieved of their duties.
About 200 unarmed soldiers left Turkey's military headquarters and surrendered to police, Anadolu Agency reported.
Late Friday night, the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, returned to Istanbul after going to an undisclosed location and vowed that those who carried out the coup will "pay." Erdogan also called the coup a "gift from God" because it will help Turkey clean out the military from the "members of this gang."
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