MANAMA: The future of the Turkish democracy seems in doldrums after later on Friday evening reports of an attempted coup emerged with no clarity.
“A group within the armed forces have made an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government outside the chain of command,” said an official with the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had clearly not been removed from office.
The official said an earlier Turkish military statement announcing a takeover was not issued by the top command. The website of the Turkish military was down, further raising questions about whether the coup was launched by the military leadership or a splinter group of soldiers.
The statement was read by an anchorwoman on state broadcaster TRT. She announced that there was a curfew across the country until further notice, citing the need for people’s safety.