Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
spoken defiantly to crowds of jubilant
supporters in Istanbul, vowing to stay in
power hours after an army faction
dramatically tried to topple the government.
Erdogan's arrival in Istanbul from the coastal
city of Marmaris came after Prime Minister
Binali Yildirim told broadcaster NTV on
Saturday that the situation in the country was
At least 60 people were killed across Turkey
during the coup attempt, a senior official told
news agencies. Some 754 members of the
armed forces were detained across the
country, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.
Speaking at a news conference, Erdogan said
the attempt to push him from power was "an
act of treason" and that those behind the plot
would "pay a heavy price". He said said he
would stay with his "people" and not go
anywhere.
"Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been
told they bombed the locations where I had
been," he told reporters. "I assume they
thought I was still there when they bombed
those places."
Speaking to thousands of supporters outside
Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan
said the coup plotters had pointed "the
people's guns against the people.
"The president, whom 52 percent of the people
brought to power, is in charge," Erdogan said.
"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."
As he spoke, live footage showed dozens of
soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on
one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in
Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their
hands raised in the air.
"Clearly the cleansing of the military from
those elements who joined or supported the
coup is already under way," Al Jazeera's
senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said.
"This is going to continue for days to come,
and I think there are probably going to be
tribunals within the military to see who
supported the coup."
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