Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim have separately appeared on television, declaring that the coup attempt — which started on Friday night — is over and that they continue to be in charge.
Yildirim said 120 people involved in the putsch have so far been arrested.
However, gunfire, bomb explosions and military airstrikes continue to be reported in the capital.
AFP cited NTV television as saying on Saturday that a fighter jet dropped bombs near the Turkish presidential palace in Ankara. Plumes of black smoke were seen rising over the Bestepe district where the palace is located, according to the TV.
A faction of the Turkish military declared last night that it had fully seized control of the country and that Erdogan and Yildirim were no more in charge.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported a bomb explosion at the parliament building.
Soldiers and tanks took to the streets late on Friday and multiple explosions rang out throughout the night in Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cities of the strategic NATO member country.
Gunfire could be heard across the capital as military warplanes and helicopters were flying low over the city.
However, on Saturday morning, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said the coup attempt in the country has been “repelled” and the situation has been restored to “normal.”
Prime Minister Yildirim also announced in the early hours of Saturday morning that the situation is largely under control and that a no-fly zone was imposed over Ankara.
“Normal,” however, does not seem to explain the situation in the country correctly.
A senior Turkish official, whose name was not mentioned in the reports, has said bomb attacks continue on the parliament building in Ankara.
The official added that rebel soldiers have been warned they will be shot down if they attempt to use more military aircraft.
Forty two people were killed in the Turkish capital, Ankara, during the attempted coup, which started on Friday night, a senior Turkish official said.
The 42 people, 17 of them police and others civilians, were killed in Ankara, NTV reported, citing the chief prosecutor’s office in the capital’s Golbasi district.
There are conflicting reports about who exactly the coup plotters were. Factions of the military apparently took on each other during the attempt.
Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as telling CNN Turk that the US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen was responsible for the attempted coup.
Gulen, once Erdogan’s mentor, is now his enemy number one.
However, a group affiliated with the opposition Gulen Movement condemned the coup attempt against the Turkish government.
Erdogan has also said he does not know the whereabouts of army chief General Hulusi Akar, who was reported earlier to have been taken hostage by the coup plotters.
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