Police say 16 coup plotters dead, 250 detained in Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey – The Latest on what appears to be an attempted military coup in Turkey (all times local):

8:20 a.m.

Turkey’s Police Chief Celalettin Lekesiz says 16 coup plotters have been killed in clashes at Turkey’s military police command.

In comments carried by the state-run Anadolu Agency Saturday, Lekesiz says 250 others have been arrested. He says clashes at the command are continuing but “are about to come to an end.”

The report says Gen. Memduh Hakbilen, the chief of staff of Turkey’s command for the Aegean region, is among those arrested.

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7:45 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting 754 members of the armed forces have been detained across Turkey in the wake of the attempted coup.

Anadolu says that at the Etimesgut armoured units training command, in the outskirts of Ankara, some soldiers who took part in the coup attempt were arrested by fellow officers or soldiers and handed over to police.

Even as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the coup is being crushed and arrests made, it is not clear who is in control of military headquarters in Ankara. Erdogan has not left the Istanbul airport as dawn broke Saturday.

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7:15 a.m.

An official in the president’s office says at least 60 people have been killed in the attempted coup.

The official also says 336 people, most of them soldiers, have been arrested across Turkey. Most of the dead are civilians.

The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, quoted by state-run Anadolu Agency, says security forces have “achieved results in many places” and defeated coup plotters. That includes the National Intelligence Agency, police and government buildings.

He says: “There is nowhere they have they have proper control. God willing they will be defeated in the remaining areas and those in the air will be brought down.”

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7 a.m.

CNN-Turk is quoting Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying that commander of Turkey’s 1st Army, Gen. Umit Dundar, has been appointed acting chief of military staff.

Earlier President Erdogan said he had no information concerning Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage at the military headquarters by coup plotters.

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6:50 a.m.

CNN-Turk is showing images of dozens of soldiers giving themselves up to government forces on Istanbul’s Bosporus Bridge.

They’re walking among tanks with their hands held up.

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6:45 a.m.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says a military helicopter used by coup plotters has been shot down.

The Anadolu Agency says Saturday the helicopter was brought down in the Golbasi district, in the outskirts of Ankara.

The report says the helicopter was used to attack Turkey’s satellite station Turksat.

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6:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters outside Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport and tells them he is charge and coup won’t succeed.

Erdogan says: “They have pointed the people’s guns against the people. The president, whom 52 per cent of the people brought to power, is in charge. This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won’t succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.”

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6:30 a.m.

European Council President Donald Tusk says the EU fully supports Turkey’s democratically elected government, in the wake of the attempted coup that left scores dead and wounded.

Speaking in Mongolia at the Asia-Europe summit meeting, Tusk says “Turkey is a key partner for the European Union. The EU fully supports the democratically elected government, the institutions of the country and the rule of law.”

He also called for a swift return to Turkey’s constitutional order.

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6:10 a.m.

Turkish broadcaster CNN-Turk is back on air after police apparently entered the building and arrested soldiers who had taken it over. CNN-Turk showed police taking away a soldier with his hands bound behind his back with wire.

The station also showed the moment five soldiers, who appeared to be conscripts, enter the building brandishing machine-guns and telling employees to vacate the building.

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5:50 a.m.

State-run Anadolu Agency says Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called all legislators for an emergency meeting on Saturday.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman earlier said that a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He said there were no fatalities and that all legislators were safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Troops loyal to the government are moving to crush the coup attempt, arresting some 130 anti-government forces. A helicopter was flying over the area where the parliament is located and shots were being fired.

A source at the presidency told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that 13 military officers who had earlier tried to forcibly enter the presidential palace were among those arrested.

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5:30 a.m.

NTV television is quoting the prosecutor’s office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in “attacks” in the capital.

According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier said that the coup plot will fail.

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5:10 a.m.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, says more than 120 people have been arrested in a coup plot.

He says: “Things are getting better every minute.”

Yildirim called on people to remain in the streets to support the government against coup plotters and appealed for patience.

He says a few air force planes flown by coup plotters still remain in the air. He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.

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5 a.m.

A lawyer for the Turkish government says “there are indications of direct involvement” in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.

Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm “have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed” by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.

He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, “there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government.”

The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas denied the charges.

Y. Alp Aslandogan of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values tells The Associated Press “we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible.”

Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, “we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey.”

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4:40 a.m.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his general secretary was abducted by coup makers and there is no information on the chief of the military staff.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, speaking on NTV, says he has ordered the “annihilitation” of military planes used by coup plotters. He says military jets have taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara.

According to transcripts of the president’s remarks provided by his office, Erdogan said that he arrived in Istanbul from the holiday resort of Marmaris, which was also been bombed after he left there.

He says: “Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from. … The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m.”

He says coup makers “are a minority within the military.”

According to Erdogan, “Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.”

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4:20 a.m.

Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman says a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.

He says there are no fatalities and that all legislators are safe at a parliamentary shelter.

Meanwhile in Istanbul, an official at the president’s office says more than 50 military officers have been arrested in Istanbul and large crowds have carried out multiple citizen arrests.

Turkish TV channels are broadcasting scenes of soldiers being escorted away by policemen.

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4:10 a.m.

An official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital in the Uskudar district of Istanbul tells The Associated Press they have admitted at least 150 wounded.

The official refused to comment whether there were fatalities. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.

Earlier, NTV reported that six dead were brought to the same facility.