Shortly after 9pm tonight, Friday, 16th July 2016, a section of the Turkish military released a formal statement announcing that it had taken control of the Turkish state from the elected Government and had taken state power for itself.
Matters are very confused. Military action appears to be limited to major cities, with reports coming that Istanbul, Antalya and Ankara have been affected – where the army is blocking people from crossing over the Bosphorous (above), from one side of the city to the other.
There have been reports that President Erdogan was able to go into hiding, from where he issued a Face Time message to the people urging them to resist the military coup, before fleeing the country. Shortly after the president called for people to resist, the dawn call to prayer began to sound from some mosques – hours early, as it is the middle of the night.
The people are coming out onto the streets in Istanbul and the army is trying to break up these initial protests.
Initial signs appear to be that the army has given a public explanation that it has acted to rid Turkey of an Islamacist Government – but there is also talk that the army had felt sidelined by President Erdogan and has lost patience with him..
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