Coup attempt in Turkey fails, not going anywhere says Erdogan

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addressed the media in Istanbul making it clear that he not going anywhere and will stay with his people and will not hand the country over to occupiers, after a failed coup attempt by cerrtain officers of the military.

He told journalists, that millions are out on the streets protesting the coup attempt. He added that Turkey's cabinet is functioning in Ankara.

The uprising according to Erdogan was carried out by minority within the military that could not stomach the unity of the country. 

Sources added, over 120 coup plotters had been arrested.

Tayyip Erdogan said some in the military had been taking orders from Pennsylvania, home of cleric Fethullah Gulen. He further said, that this shows Gulen's structure is an armed terrorist organization. 

Meanwhile, the Gulen movement condemned the coup attempt. A group affiliated with US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, condemned the uprising, AFP reported.

"For more than 40 years, Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet participants have advocated for, and demonstrated their commitment to, peace and democracy," the Alliance for Shared Values said in a statement."

"We have consistently denounced military interventions in domestic politics. These are core values of Hizmet participants. We condemn any military intervention in domestic politics of Turkey."

The Coup that wasn't 

Low flying Turkish Air Force jets, gunfire and explosions resonated over Ankara on Friday night as military tanks rolled down the streets and a faction of the military claimed a coup and declared martial law imposing a curfew.

According to state broadcaster TRT troops behind the putsch claimed taking over the country in a statement signed by a group calling itself the "Council for Peace in the Homeland".

"The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," the statement said. It said the coup had been launched "to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted".

It was not yet clear whether the attempted takeover had widespread backing in the military, or rogue elements within it. No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions. A group of soldiers raided the Dogan Media Group, one of Turkey´s largest private media organisations, the CNN-Turkey channel which it owns said.

The government received expressions of support from members of the political opposition, including the leader of the Republican People´s Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu.