ANKARA, Turkey–An attempted coup overnight Friday into Saturday morning in Turkey appears to have failed.
Turkish officials said Saturday morning the government had appeared to have repelled an attempted military coup following a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital.
An official at Haydarpasa Numune Hospital in the Uskudar district of Istanbul told The Associated Press around 4 a.m. local time they had admitted at least 150 wounded.
The official refused to comment whether there were fatalities.
Here is a timeline of the attempted coup. All times local to Turkey, which is seven hours ahead of Connecticut.
11:10 p.m.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim tells NTV television a group within Turkey’s military has engaged in what appears to be an attempted coup.
“It is correct that there was an attempt.”
Yildirim didn’t provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy.”
Earlier, military jets were heard flying over the capital, Ankara.
11:45 p.m.
A Turkish news agency, The Dogan, publishes a statement from the military saying the armed forces has “fully seized control” of the country.
The statement says the military did this “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 military statement went on to say that “all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue.”
A a short time later another statement read on state TRT television says the military has seized power, citing rising autocratic rule and increased terrorism.
But CNN-Turk quotes Defense Minister Fikri Isik as describing it as a “pirate statement.”
12:50 a.m.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking to CNN-Turk through FaceTime, calls the actions by the military “an attempt at an uprising by a minority within our armed forces.”
He urges citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government after the military said it seized full control of the country.
The president’s office refuses to disclose Erdogan’s whereabouts, saying he is at a secure location. Erdogan says, “I don’t believe this coup attempt will be successful.”
He adds: “There is absolutely no chain of command here. Right now the chain of command has been put on hold.”
1:10 a.m.
Loud explosions are heard in Turkey’s capital Ankara and CNN-Turk reports an explosion occurred at the state-run television building.
Turkey’s state-run news agency reports military helicopters also attacked the headquarters of TURKSAT satellite station on the outskirts of Ankara and the Ankara Police headquarters.
Dozens of tanks are seen moving toward a palace that is now used by the prime minister and deputy prime ministers.
1:30 a.m.
Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala says very effective units from the chief of general staff’s office, the Turkish armed forces and the police are responding to the attempted coup in the country.
Ala says they are responding to “gangs who have taken cover in certain locations.”
He spoke by telephone to NTV television and also encouraged Turkish citizens to “fearlessly go out and support our security forces.”
He says: “We think it would be right for them to go out to the airports, to the streets, especially to the main arteries. As long as they do that this gang’s attempts… they will be defeated no matter what.”
He added “this is a gang that considers nothing sacred, not the people or the nation. They’re taking certain actions.”
Turkey’s Istanbul-based first army commander adds the soldiers involved in an attempted coup “represent a small group” and “there is no cause for concern,” according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.
First Army Commander Umit Dundar tels Anadolu that “we are working to solve the problem here. They represent a small group within the First Army Command. There is no cause for concern. We are taking the necessary precautions with (soldiers) who have not joined them and remain within the military chain of command.”
1:40 a.m.
Turkish news agency Dogan reports that soldiers have opened fired on people trying to cross Istanbul’s Bosporus bridge in protest of the attempted coup, and some have been wounded.
TV footage showed people running for cover as shots rang out.
2 a.m.
State-run Anadolu Agency says that 17 police officers have been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.
Loud explosions were heard earlier in Turkey’s capital after the military said it seized full control of the country.
Minutes earlier Manadolu reported Turkish Air Force planes were flying above Ankara to strike at helicopters that are being used by those attempting the coup.
Private NTV television reported that F-16 jets have brought down a Sikorsky helicopter, but didn’t provide any details.
NTV also showed what it said were images from a police station in Istanbul, showing military officers allegedly detained by police.
Meanwhile, the commander of Turkey’s military special forces, Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, said “those who are attempting a coup will not succeed.”
He told NTV television by telephone: “Our people should know that we will overcome this… We are in control of the situation.”
He said some deaths and injuries were reported during the coup attempt, without providing any details.
2:50 a.m.
Anadolu Agency says a bomb has hit the Turkish parliament in Ankara.
CNN-Turk television reports some police officers and parliament workers were hurt in the bomb attack.
About an hour and a half later Parliament Speaker Ismail Kahraman said a bomb hit one corner of a public relations building inside the parliament complex, injuring some police officers.
He said there are no fatalities and that all legislators are safe at a parliamentary shelter.
3:10 a.m.
Turkish media reports have cited MIT, the national intelligence agency, as saying the coup has been defeated.
MIT spokesman Nuh Yilmaz said that Gen. Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, was back in control.
Yilmaz said “Gen. Akar is back on top of his duties.” He added: “everything is returning to normal”
3:20 a.m.
A top Turkish official says the coup attempt within the country’s military appears to have been unsuccessful.
The senior official told The Associated Press all government officials are in charge of their offices, but cautioned that the chief of military staff hasn’t appeared in public yet.
Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told NTV television: “The military commanders have made it clear that the coup plotters violated the chain of command… The people have shown that they stand in solidarity with democracy and the elected government.”
3:50 a.m.
Two large explosions are heard near Taksim square in Istanbul, where police and military are exchanging fire.
The blasts were accompanied by the screech of fighter jets.
4:00 a.m.
Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed military sources, says the leader of the attempted coup is Col. Muharrem Kose.
The agency says Kose, who headed the military’s legal advisory department, was dismissed from the position a short time ago.
The agency says other officers involved include Col. Mehmet Oguz Akkus, Maj. Erkan Agin and Lt. Col. Dogan Uysal.
4:05 a.m.
Private NTV television is showing footage of large crowds gathering at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport to greet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he emerged from a vehicle upon landing.
4:40 a.m.
President Erdogan says his general secretary was abducted by coup makers and there is no information on the chief of the military staff.
About an hour and a half earlier Turkey’s national intelligence agency said that Gen. Hulusi Akar, the military chief of staff, was back in control, though now those reports are being called into question due to Erdogan’s words.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yildirim, speaking on NTV, says he has ordered the “annihilation” of military planes used by coup plotters. He says military jets have taken off from an air base in Eskisehir, east of Ankara.
According to transcripts of the president’s remarks provided by his office, Erdogan said that he arrived in Istanbul from the holiday resort of Marmaris, which was also been bombed after he left.
He says: “Those who drive around in tanks will have to go back to where they came from…The most important thing right now is that millions of Turkish citizens are on the streets at 4.30 a.m.”
He says coup makers “are a minority within the military.”
According to Erdogan, “Turkey has a democratically elected government and president. We are in charge and we will continue exercising our powers until the end. We will not abandon our country to these invaders. It will end well.”
5 a.m.
A lawyer for the Turkish government says “there are indications of direct involvement” in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.
Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm “have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed” by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.
He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, “there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government.”
The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas denied the charges.
Y. Alp Aslandogan, of the New York-based Alliance for Shared Values, tells The Associated Press “we categorically deny such accusations and find them to be highly irresponsible.”
Earlier in the evening, the alliance said, “we condemn any military intervention in (the) domestic politics of Turkey.”
5:20 a.m.
Prime Minister Yildirim, speaking to Anadolu Agency, says more than 130 people have been arrested in a coup plot.
He says: “Things are getting better every minute.”
Yildirim called on people to remain in the streets to support the government against coup plotters and appealed for patience.
He says a few air force planes flown by coup plotters still remain in the air. He has earlier ordered those aircraft shot down.
5:30 a.m.
NTV television is quoting the prosecutor’s office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in “attacks” in the capital.
According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.
