Turkey President Erdogan Denounces Coup Attempt, Says 'No Power Above National Will'

Story Highlights
Turkey President Erdogan says coup will be put down
Military has declared martial law and curfew; soldiers on streets
PM Binali Yildirim said the elected government was still in charge
Istanbul/Ankara: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan emerged to crowds of supporters at Istanbul's main Ataturk airport early on Saturday after what officials said had been a coup attempt by a faction within the armed forces.

Addressing the huge crowd, President Erdogan said that "no power is above the national will". "I am with my people. I'm not going anywhere," he told the cheering crowd , footage on broadcaster NTV showed.

Turkish troops said on Friday they had seized power but President Tayyip Erdogan vowed that the attempted coup would be put down and crowds answered his call to defy a curfew order and take to the streets to support him.

Gunfire and explosions rocked both the main city Istanbul and capital Ankara in a chaotic night, but by the early hours of Saturday there were indications that the coup was crumbling.

If successful, the overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, would mark one of the biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming one of the most important US allies while war rages on its border. If it fails, the coup attempt could still destabilise a pivotal country in the region.

"We will overcome this," Erdogan said, speaking on a video call to a mobile phone held up to the camera by an announcer on the Turkish sister station of CNN. He called on his followers to take to the streets to defend his government and said the coup plotters would pay a heavy price.

An official said Erdogan was speaking from Marmaris on the Turkish coast where he was on holiday. A Turkish official later said Erdogan's plane had landed in Istanbul.

A Turkish military commander said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by the coup plotters over Ankara. State-run Anadolu news agency said 17 police were killed at special forces headquarters there.