Turkish officials say coup attempt appears to have failed

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a television interview that members of the movement loyal to Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, were involved in the attempted military takeover.

Prime minister Binali Yildirim has called for calm, saying security forces are doing what is necessary to resolve the situation.

Meanwhile, all flights from Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, one of the world’s busiest airports, have been cancelled, reported Reuters.

Turkish military jets have flown over Turkey’s capital, Ankara, and deadly fighting has been reported in what appears to be an attempted military coup. President Barack Obama discussed the events with Secretary of State John Kerry, and they agreed “the democratically-elected Government of Turkey” should be supported by people in Turkey, according to a White House statement.

A presidential source said that Erdogan, believed to have been holidaying by the Aegean when taken by surprise with the coup attempt, was about to land in Istanbul in his plane.

As the coup attempt unfolded, security forces in Istanbul blocked two bridges connecting the Anatolian side to the European side of the city. And in recent weeks, he has appeared to have shifted allegiances toward restoring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule, frightening his North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies.

Meanwhile there are unconfirmed reports that an F-16 fighter jet has shot down the helicopter. At the time Erdogan said the people voted for “stability” after a string of terrorist attacks left 130 people dead.

“We are working on the possibility of an attempt”. “Those who are attempting a coup will not succeed”. Reports from AFP also suggest military forces opened fire on civilians, resulting in a number of injuries. The country’s police has also encouraged people to do.

The military said it seized control “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated”.

The president, whose whereabouts weren’t immediately known on Friday, took to social media to urge supporters to take to the streets in defiance of the military.

Bulgaria bolstered its patrols on the Bulgarian-Turkish border and appealed to Bulgarians to restrain from travelling to Turkey, the government press office said in a statement.

The United States, United Kingdom and other nations are watching the crisis intently to see what will happen in Turkey – a member of the NATO Western military alliance, and home to air bases used in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Dogan News reported that military vehicles blocked two major bridges over the Bosporus in Istanbul.

Turkey’s prime minister said earlier a faction within the army had attempted to seize power but that they would be pushed back and that it was wrong to call it a coup. The military commanders have made it clear that the coup plotters violated the chain of command…

Anadolu Agency reports a bomb has hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara. U.S. President Obama released a statement hours after the news first broke out “agreeing that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed”.