Philippines monitoring situation in Turkey to ensure safety of Filipinos

The Philippine government has been closely monitoring the situation in Turkey to ensure the safety of Filipinos there, a senior government official said Saturday.

Presidential Communications Office Martin Andanar said the Department of Foreign Affairs through its Embassy in Turkey has already gotten in touch with the Filipinos.

There are around 3,500 Filipinos in the troubled country.

A coup attempt swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the movement led by Turkey's Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for the coup.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

At least 161 people were reportedly killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt.

(APD)