Spotlight: Tense situation in Turkey amid military coup attempt

The situation in Turkey has been tense in the past 10 hours as groups inside the army attempted to topple the government.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday morning that the government was in charge and he was in power, after the country was smarting from the coup attempt overnight.

In his second speech delivered at Istanbul Ataturk Airport in less than two hours, the president said the armed forces did not and could not rule Turkey.

A total of 1,563 members of armed forces have been detained, according to the state-run Anadolu agency. At least 90 people were killed, the prosecutor's office said Saturday.

The situation started to escalate late Friday around the headquarters of the Turkish General Staff in the capital of Ankara, Dogan News Agency reported.

A Xinhua reporter, on his way to the headquarters of the General Staff, saw warplanes such as F-16 fighters and military helicopters flying over head and heard gunshots and suspected warplane bombing.

The reporter and other civilians hid themselves in the roadside bush. Some of them made phone calls to their relatives telling them they were safe.

Turkish NTV reported on early Saturday that a Sikorsky helicopter of rebels was downed by F-16 fighters.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told the press that the Turkish army would shoot down the planes flying over Ankara.

At around 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Friday), several military tanks passed the intersections near the Turkish parliament building and the headquarters of the General Staff. Emotional civilians were seen pelting the tanks with stones.

Due to the blockade caused by the civilians, the tanks had take a detour, crashing into vehicles and poles at the roadside.

The parliament building was bombed by anti-government forces in early Saturday morning, which injured a dozen people, the reporter said.

Until 3 a.m. (0000 GMT), interrupted gunshots were still heard near Xinhua's Ankara bureau, while there were not many people on the street.

With a no-fly zone over Ankara declared, the situation in the capital city calmed down, according to Yildirim.

Meanwhile, three warplanes were seen flying over Taksim area in central Istanbul, and huge explosions were heard in the largest city of Turkey.

President Erdogan, who landed later in Istanbul from his holiday resort in southwestern Turkey, said in his first speech at Istanbul Ataturk Airport that his resort was bombed after he left as the attackers thought he was still there.

Erdogan vowed to finish the operation against the plotters in the military.

Rebel soldiers on a bridge that links Istanbul's Asian and European parts over the Bosphorus have surrendered to the police, Turkish media reported.

The Turkish gendarmerie closed the two bridges over the strait as words of a coup attempt spread on Friday night.

Sporadic gunshots could still be heard in central Istanbul, but no more explosions and the roaring of jets overhead, a Xinhua reporter said.

Things are reportedly returning to normal in Ankara.

Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was taken hostage in the coup, was later rescued, the private TV station CNN-Turk reported.

(APD)