Turkey coup in numbers and facts: 200 killed, 1,154 wounded (Updating)

PanARMENIAN.Net - An attempted military coup has apparently been defeated in Turkey, in a bid to oust the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accusing him of undermining the country’s secular traditions, The Guardian reports.

Sixteen people involved in the attempted coup were killed in clashes at military police command. In total, 1,563 members of the armed forces have been arrested, among them 29 colonels and five generals. At least 90 people killed, a further 1,154 people have been wounded.

Erdoğan, who returned to Istanbul in the early hours of the morning from his holiday in the resort of Marmaris, said the attempted coup was “treason” undertaken by “a minority within our armed forces”.

The president urged people to take to the streets in defense of the government, prompting chaotic scenes as thousands protested alongside tanks.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said coup fighters using military helicopters would be shot down.

There were mass surrenders in Istanbul, with around 50 soldiers on Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul abandoning their tanks with their hands raised.

The head of the armed forces, General Hulusi Akar, who was reportedly taken hostage, has been freed.

But a pro-coup military faction insisted it would continue its fight and there were reports of ongoing clashes in Ankara, where a building in the parliamentary complex was bombed overnight.

GMT 09:50 am: Asked if re-introducing the death penalty was an option for dealing with coup-plotters, Prime Minister Binali Yildirum said the Turkish government will consider legal changes.

The Turkish PM said the death penalty is not in the constitution but legal changes will be considered.

GMT 10:08am: Georgia has shut its border with Turkey amid the instability from a military coup attempt, AP reports.

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said the country’s security council on Saturday discussed “threats that might arise to Georgia” from the situation and said both land and air borders had been closed.

The former Soviet republic shares a 252-kilometer (152-mile) border with Turkey.

GMT 10:00: Border Guard Department of the Russian Federal Security Service in Armenia moved to enhance the protection of the state border with Turkey, RIA cited the Service’s press office as saying.

“We switched to intensified regime of protection of the state border,” it said.

GMT 09:39am: Yildirim says 2,839 members of the Army have been detained.

Those detained range from ordinary soldiers to high-ranking officers, he says.

GMT 09:18am:Turkish Airlines said its operations at Istanbul Ataturk Airport have gone back to normal and flights are resuming.

GMT 09:04 am: Turkey’s state run press agency Anadolu is reporting that soldiers who have taken over the Chief of General Staff Headquarters as part of an attempted coup have requested negotiations to surrender.

According to a Turkish official at the presidency, that is the last base the coup supporters hold.

GMT 08:59 am:Airspace over Turkey’s northwest Marmara region has been closed to civilian flights, which will resume at 6.05pm GMT, according to the Anadolu, the Turkish state-run press agency.

GMT 08: 54am: The Russian foreign ministry has released a statement warning that the coup poses an “increased danger” to international and regional stability. It said:

"The aggravating political situation (in Turkey) against the backdrop of existing terrorist threats in this country and an armed conflict in the region pose increased danger to international and regional stability.

Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan’s call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks."

GMT08:10am: Umit Dundar, who has been appointed acting chief of military staff, has said 104 coup plotters have been killed, according to Reuters. Dundar said the coup plotter death toll is on top of the 90 people declared as dead, including 47 civilians.

GMT 08:03am: 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul this morning.

Photo: Gokhan Tan/Getty Images

GMT 07:27: The UK’s new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has confirmed on Twitter that he has spoken to Turkey’s foreign minister. "Just spoken to Turkey foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. I underlined UK support for the democratic elected government and institutions," Johnson said.