Over 1,500 Arrested, 90 Killed, 1,150 Injured In Turkish Coup Attempt

Turkish loyalists report arresting 1,563 soldiers and officers implicated in an overnight coup attempt; 29 colonels and five generals have been sacked. At least 90 people have been killed and 1,154 injured in military action in Istanbul and Ankara. Pro-government forces have seized control of the top military HQ building, but there are still some groups of rebels resisting, a Turkish official said on Saturday, as cited by Reuters. The official told the agency 1,563 military personnel were arrested following the coup attempt. But according to Milliyet, a Turkish daily, 1,374 were detained. General Hulusi Akar, who heads Turkey’s armed forces, has been rescued from rebel captivity. He was the most senior military official in their hands. The rebels reportedly have several helicopter gunships in their disposal, but loyalists have threatened to shoot them down as they downed at least one aircraft carrying out attacks on government buildings. A faction of the Turkish military attempted to overthrow the government on Friday night, employing tanks and attack helicopters. The conspiracy appears to have failed, however, as they didn’t manage to capture any senior government officials and couldn’t win wide support from the Turkish military. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on his civilian supporters to take to the streets of Istanbul, which they did. Rebel soldiers, who called on the population to stay indoors, apparently didn’t have the resolve to launch a full-scale war against civilians in Turkey’s biggest city. The coup attempt began on Friday night when warplanes and helicopters buzzed over Ankara and rebel troops moved in to seal off the bridges over the Bosphorus Strait. Tanks attacked several government buildings, including the Turkish parliament, as lawmakers hid in shelters inside the building. Several airports were shut down and access to social media was blocked in the first hours of turmoil. The TRT state television and the Turkish branch of CNN were seized and ceased broadcasting. Government officials accused Fethullah Gulen, an influential cleric in self-imposed exile in the United States, of instigating the plot. Gulen used to be an ally of Erdogan, but turned into his fierce opponent. In 2013, Turkey was shaken by a corruption scandal involving senior government figures. Erdogan claimed it had been set up by Gulen and launched a crackdown on his supporters in the police and judiciary.