Turkey’s mayhem started with an attempted coup, followed by a chaotic night of gunfire, violence and uncertainty.
The tanks rolled onto the streets as soldiers blocked the famous Bosphorus Bridge on Friday night. Blasts rang out, leaving stunned residents wondering what was going on.
The attempted coup appeared to lose momentum after a defiant President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared his government was in control early Saturday. But by the time he reemerged after hours of silence, dozens of people had died in the violence, most of them police officers.
Here’s a breakdown of how the events unfolded:
Friday night chaos
A regular Friday night suddenly turns into chaos when the military stops traffic over two bridges that cross the Bosphorus and connect the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Cars flow from the European side to the Asian side, but soldiers and military vehicles block the path to the European side.
Over in Istanbul, about 300 residents gather in Taksim Square, some waving Turkish flags. Army tanks and a military vehicle sit at the square.
Video and photos on social media show large crowds marching through the streets of both sides, taunting soldiers while Turkish military fire guns in the air.
Military steps in
After confusion and uncertainty over what’s going on, the military issues a declaration that it has seized control of Turkey to maintain democratic order.
It says the “political administration that has lost all legitimacy has been forced to withdraw.”
Turkish state broadcaster reads a statement from the “Peace in the Nation” council. It declares the imposition of martial law, with a curfew in effect until further notice.
Turkish state broadcaster TRT says it has been taken over by a faction of the military that was part of the coup attempt.
CNN Turk reports that soldiers have entered its building as well.
More gunfire; no social media
More gunfire rings out as a confused nation watches. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all experience interruptions or outages in Turkey.
Turkey Blocks, a group that tracks censorship in Turkey, tweets that all three services are blocked in the country as of 10:50 pm local time. Dyn, another service that tracks Internet performance globally, reports that Facebook and Twitter are blocked for “about an hour.”
Gunfire erupts near the presidential complex in the capital of Ankara. Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency reports helicopters have opened fire at the national intelligence headquarters there.
A Turkish F-16 fighter jet shoots down a helicopter used by coup plotters over Ankara, CNN Turk reports.
FaceTime interview
After hours of intrigue, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the nation — via FaceTime.
During his interview with CNN Turk, he urges people to take to the streets to stand up to the military. “Go to the streets and give them their answer,” he urges. “I am coming to a square in Ankara. … This was done from outside the chain of command.”
He says the lower officers had rebelled against senior officers.
“Those who are responsible, we will give them the necessary punishment,” he adds.
Foreboding moments
The contradictory stances from the President and the alleged plotters leave the nation stunned. Night gives way into dawn — with no answers.
In Istanbul, a defiant Erdogan reemerges early Saturday and tells supporters that the attempted coup did not succeed.
“The government is in control,” he says. “Fifty percent of the people elected the President and that President is on duty.”
Crowd chants his name and cheer, but his grip on power remains uncertain following the brazen coup attempt.
The statistics are grim as he tries to reassert his power: 60 people killed in Ankara and 1,000 more hospitalized across the country, Turkish state media report.
And for the suspected coup plotters, more than 1,500 are in custody nationwide.