Ankara
ANKARA
Turkey defeats coup attempt in less than 24 hours
The attempt by sections of the Turkish military to overthrow the government began at around 10 p.m. local time (1900GMT) Friday and was thwarted by 8 p.m. Saturday.
At least 246 people were martyred and 20 pro-coup servicemen killed and more than 2,100 injured.
According to the government, the coup was organized by followers of U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, who is accused of pursuing a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through supporters within the Turkish state, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
Below is the chronology of developments (all times local):
July 15
10 p.m. - Shots heard inside General Staff complex in Ankara and a helicopter fires at people on the ground. Soldiers take control of state broadcaster TRT and the General Staff headquarters in Ankara as troops seize the Bosphorus and Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges linking Asia and Europe in Istanbul.
11.24 p.m. - An explosion is heard at the Police Special Operations Center in Golbasi, to the south of Ankara.
11.30 p.m. - Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announces an “attempt to stage a coup” in a live TV broadcast.
11.30 p.m. - Chief of the General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar is held hostage by pro-coup soldiers.
July 16
12.00 a.m. - Security sources tell Anadolu Agency the coup is being conducted by officers who are members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.
12.11 a.m. - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan leaves Marmaris, in Turkey’s southwest, for Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul.
12.13 a.m. - TRT news anchor forced to read a declaration from coup leaders claiming to have taken control of the nation as the Committee of Peace at Home. Erdogan later addresses the country via mobile telephone, urging people to “go to the squares” to resist the coup and defend democracy.
12.35 a.m. - First investigation into the coup launched by a prosecutor in Istanbul.
1.01 a.m. - Ankara Police Department attacked by jets and helicopters.
1.39 a.m. - First pro-coup soldiers arrested.
2.20 a.m. - Golbasi Special Forces Department headquarters bombed by pro-coup aircraft, killing 17 police officers and two personnel from satellite operator TURKSAT.
2.30 a.m. - 13 soldiers, including three senior officers, are held while attempting to take over the presidential palace in Ankara. A spokesman for the National Intelligence Service says the coup has been “thwarted”.
2.42 a.m. and 02.49 a.m. - The Turkish parliament is bombed, injuring a number of people.
3.00 a.m. - TRT resumes broadcasting.
3.20 a.m. - Erdogan lands in Istanbul.
4.00 a.m. - Ankara chief public prosecutor’s office orders the arrests of members of the coup leadership.
4.42 a.m. - Helicopters open fire on the hotel in Marmaris where Erdogan had been staying. Five police are injured in a firefight with troops.
5:20 a.m. - Yildirim tweets that 130 soldiers have been arrested and a rebel general killed.
06.30 a.m. - Turkish air forces down military helicopter in Golbasi used by parallel state to bomb TURKSAT satellite agency
6.52 a.m. - 1st Army Commander Gen. Umit Dundar is appointed as acting chief of staff in Akar’s absence.
7.10 a.m. - Interior Ministry confirms that more than 330 FETO members have been detained.
7.35 a.m. - More than 750 military personnel held over coup allegations.
08.17 a.m. - Aegean Army Command's chief of staff Major General Memduh Hakbilen detained in Izmir
8.32 a.m. - Akar rescued from pro-coup forces.
08.36 a.m. - Turkey’s special operations police capture Gendarmerie General Command, pro-coup soldiers neutralized
9.32 a.m. - Around 1,370 suspected FETO military members detained.
9.40 a.m. - 200 soldiers surrender to police in Ankara.
9.44 a.m. - Deaths of 90 people during the failed coup are revealed by authorities. 1,154 have been injured.
9.46 a.m. - Treason charges laid against the retired air force commander Gen. Akin Ozturk and Lt. Gen. Metin Iyidil, commander of the Land Forces Training and Doctrine Command.
9.56 a.m. - 1,563 suspected FETO members arrested.
9.58 a.m. - Judicial recess cancelled.
10.07 a.m. - 700 soldiers surrender to police in Ankara.
10.15 a.m - Bingol 49th Ranger Brigade Commander Gen. Yunus Kotaman and Bolu 2nd Ranger Brigade Commander Gen. Ismail Guneser detained
10.22 a.m. - Pro-coup soldiers in Marmaris leave area.
10.34 a.m. - A group of senior officers who were held by plotters after refusing to join the coup is freed.
10.37 a.m. - Yildrim announces that Akar is on-duty at prime minister’s residence Cankaya Palace.
10.59 a.m. - Interior minister Efkan Ala discharge Coas Guard commander Rear Admiral Hakan Ustem
11.27 a.m. - Coup forces at General Command HQ ask to negotiate surrender.
12.04 p.m. - 200 soldiers arrested at General Command HQ.
12.56 p.m. - Three prosecutors receive surrender of troops at General Command HQ.
12.57 p.m. - Yildirim says 161 people martyred, 1,440 injured during coup attempt. 2,839 military personnel involved in the “vile attempt” arrested.
2.37 p.m. - 2,745 judges suspended over alleged links to coup attempt.
3.26 p.m. - 10 members of Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court, are arrested.
4.08 p.m. - Ankara chief public prosecutor’s office issues detention orders against 11 members of the Supreme Court and four members of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors over alleged coup ties.
5.00 p.m. - Yildirim addresses to an extraordinary session of the Turkish parliament.
8.02 p.m. - An operation at Akinci air base northwest of Ankara ends. The base had served as the coup headquarters.
8.50 p.m. - Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Galip Mendi has been rescued with the operation (against parallel state's coup attempt) at the 4th Main Jet Base Command in northwest Ankara
9.57 p.m. - Ankara chief public prosecutor's office demands the arrest of 2,745 suspended judges.
