Turkey Military coup; president says he’s still in charge

An army group in Tur­key has claimed that it has taken control of the country.
The reported coup has been marked by bridges be­ing closed in Istanbul and air­craft flying low over Ankara.
As the events unfolded ear­lier in the day with traffic be­ing stopped from crossing both the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges in Is­tanbul, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had stressed that it wasn’t a coup.
Gunshots have reportedly been heard in Ankara as well as outside the Istanbul police HQ, while tanks are reported to be stationed outside the Is­tanbul airport.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is reported to be safe.

If successful, the overthrow of President Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would amount to one of the biggest shifts in pow­er in the Middle East in years.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the elected gov­ernment remained in office. There was no immediate word from Erdogan. The Turkish sister channel of CNN said he was “safe.”
The armed forces had tak­en power in the country to protect the democratic order and to maintain human rights, the military said in a statement sent by email and reported on Turkish TV channels.
All of Turkey’s existing for­eign relations would be main­tained and the rule of law would remain the priority, it said.
The state-run Anadolu news agency said the chief of Turkey’s military staff was among people taken “hostage” in the capital Ankara.
CNN Turk also reported that hostages were being held at the military headquarters.
Turkey, a NATO member with the second biggest mili­tary in the Western alliance, is one of the most important al­lies of the United States in the fight against Islamic State.
It is a principal backer of opponents of Syrian Presi­dent Bashar al-Assad in that country’s civil war, and host to 2 million Syrian refugees.