Turkish president Erdogan condemns coup attempt

After a failed coup attempt on Friday night in Turkey, residents of Istanbul told of their ordeal on Saturday morning with most denouncing the actions of the rebel soilders and simply terming it as cruelty.

“This is cruelty. Shame on people who did this to our beautiful country. I don’t have anything else to tell them. They should be afraid of the God and ashamed of God’s followers, said Saban Alak. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was holidaying when the incident broke out flew to Istanbul and in a televised address, termed the uprising as an act of treason saying those involved would pay dearly.

“If you use these guns against the people who gave them to you, you will pay a heavy price. You need to turn back from this mistake,” he said

UPDATE: A total of 1,563 military officers have been detained across #Turkey – senior Turkish official. https://t.co/VxbVjiMMJk

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 16, 2016

The president claimed that the attempted coup is over but tensions remain high in the country.

He further accused Fethullah Gulen a US- based Muslim cleric of fuelling the coup, but Gullen has denied any involvement.

#BREAKING: Erdogan enemy Gulen strongly condemns attempted Turkey coup: statement

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 16, 2016

Dozens of people most of whom were civilians died in the overnight clashes and hundreds of soilders have so far been arrested.

Death toll in attempted coup in Turkey rises to 90, with 1,154 injured, state-run news agency reportshttps://t.co/kmgak19RJ4

— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 16, 2016

Several world leaders have condemned the attack. The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has called for calm adding that the UN is seeking to clarify the situation.

US president Barack Obama urged all parties in Turkey to back the “democratically elected” government, while Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif said on twitter that he is deeply concerned about the crisis in Turkey. Stability democracy and safety of the Turkish people are paramount.

Reuters