Turkish forces fight to crush coup remnants after Erdogan returns

Forces loyal to theTurkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of amilitary coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answeredPresident RecepTayyipErdogan'scall to take to the streets anddozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.

TurkishPrime MinisterBinaliYildirimsaid 161 peoplehad been killed and 1,440 woundedafter afaction of the armed forces tried to seize power using tanks andattack helicopters. Some strafed the headquarters of Turkishintelligence and parliament in the capital, Ankara, and othersseized a major bridge in Istanbul.

Thedeath toll given by Yildirimwas lower than a previous military-provided total of 194 people.

• Coup attempt in Turkey: What we know so far
• 'I cannot believe this is real,': Witnesses on Istanbul chaos

Erdoganaccused the coup plottersof trying tokill him and launched apurge ofthe armed forces, which last used force tostage a successful coup more than 30 years ago.

"They will pay a heavy price for this," said Erdogan, whoalso saw off mass public protests against his rule three years
ago. "This uprising is a gift from God to us because this willbe a reason to cleanse our army."

A Turkish broadcaster reported that a purge of the judiciarywas also underway.

2,800 rounded up

One government minister said some military commanders werestill being held hostage by the plotters. But the governmentdeclared the situation fully under control, saying 161 peoplehad been killed and 2,839 had been rounded up from foot soldiersto senior officers, including those who had formed "thebackbone" of the rebellion.

A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the countryof about 80 million people since 2003, would have marked one ofthe biggest shifts in the Middle East in years, transforming amajor U.S. ally while war rages on its border.

However, a failed coup attempt could still destabilize aNATO member that lies between the European Union and the chaosof Syria, with Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)bombers targeting Turkish citiesand the government also at war with Kurdish separatists.

Erdogan, who had been holidaying on the southwest coast whenthe coup was launched, flew into Istanbul before dawn onSaturday and was shown on TV outside Ataturk Airport.

Addressing a crowd of thousands of flag-waving supporters atthe airport later, Erdogan said the government remained at thehelm, although disturbances continued in Ankara.

Erdogan says he was targeted

Erdogan, a polarizing figure whose Islamist-rooted ideologylies at odds with supporters of modern Turkey's secular
principles, said the plotters had tried to attack him in theresort town of Marmaris.

"They bombed places I had departed right after I was gone,"he said. "They probably thought we were still there."

Erdogan's AK Party has long had strained relations with themilitary, which has a history of mounting coups to defend
secularism although it has not seized power directly since 1980.

His conservative religious vision for Turkey's future hasalso alienated many ordinary citizens who accuse him of
authoritarianism. Police used heavy force in 2013 to suppressmass protest demanding more freedom.

However, he also commands the admiration and loyalty ofmillions of Turks, particularly for restoring order to an
economy once beset by regular crises. Living standards haverisen steadily under his rule, and while the economy has hitserious problems in recent years, it grew agreater-than-expected 4.8 per cent year-on-year in the firstquarter.

Still, the violence is likely to hit a tourism industryalready suffering from the bombings and a row with Russia that
had appeared to have been settled, and business confidence isalso vulnerable.

Video-calling address

In a night that sometimes verged on the bizarre, Erdogantook to social media even though he is an avowed enemy of thetechnology when his opponents use it, frequently targetingTwitter and Facebook.

Erdogan addressed the nation via a video-calling service,appearing on the smartphone of a CNN Turk reporter who held itup to a studio camera so viewers to the network could see him.

He said the "parallel structure" was behind the coup attempt his shorthand for followers of Fethullah Gulen, a Muslimcleric whom he has repeatedly accused of trying to foment anuprising in the military, media and judiciary.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States,once supported Erdogan but became a nemesis.He deniedaccusations he played a role in the attempted coup and said hecondemned in the strongest terms the action.

"As someone who suffered under multiple military coupsduring the past five decades, it is especially insulting to be
accused of having any link to such an attempt. I categoricallydeny such accusations," Gulen said in a statement.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had not received any request to extradite Gulen.

Judge purge

The purge appeared to go beyond the military. Citing adecision by the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, broadcaster NTVreported that authorities had removed 2,745judges from duty.

Gunfire and explosions had rocked both Istanbul and Ankarathrough the night after soldiers took up positions in both
cities and ordered state television to read out a statementdeclaring they had taken power. However, by dawn the noise offighting had died down considerably.

About 50 soldiers involved in the coup surrendered on one ofthe bridges across the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul after dawnon Saturday, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised inthe air. Reuters witnesses saw government supporters attack thepro-coup soldiers who had surrendered.

Earlier, around 30 pro-coup soldiers had surrendered theirweapons after being surrounded by armed police in Istanbul's
central Taksim square.

They were taken away in police vans as a fighter jetrepeatedly screeched overhead at low altitude, causing a boom
that shook surrounding buildings and shattered windows.

Neighbouring Greece arrested eight men aboard a Turkishmilitary helicopter which landed in the northern city of
Alexandroupolis on Saturday, the country's police ministry said,adding that they had requested political asylum.

Bospurus re-opened

Turkish maritime authorities reopened the Bosporus totransiting tankers after shutting the major trade route from the
Black Sea to the Aegean for several hours for security andsafety reasons.

The Turkish Embassy in Ottawa said the coup was "foiled by the Turkish people in unity and solidarity." It said not all the Turkish armed forces were behind the move.

"It was conducted by a clique within the Armed Forces and received a well-deserved response from our nation," the statement said.

Dion 'very concerned'

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Stphane Dionsaid on Twitterhe is "veryconcerned about reports from Turkey."

Global Affairs Canada also went on Twitter to offer assistance to Canadians whomay be trapped in the country, telling them tocall 90 (312) 409-2700 or to emailsos@international.gc.ca.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he phoned theTurkish foreign minister and underlined "absolute support for
Turkey's democratically elected, civilian government anddemocratic institutions".