Turkish military mounts coup attempt; outcome unclear

ISTANBUL — Both the Turkish prime minister and the Turkish military claimed Friday that a coup attempt had taken place, but it was not immediately clear who had seized control of the country.

Security forces in Istanbul blocked two bridges connecting the Anatolian side to the European side of the city. Travelers reported on their Twitter accounts that airliners were stopped from taking off, while military aircraft were seen flying over Ankara, the capital.

Dogan News Agency reported that police in Ankara called personnel to their officers. In addition, media reports said ambulances were seen in front of the Turkey’s military headquarters.

State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting that Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar is being kept as a hostage, according to Hurriet Daily News.  The whereabouts of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was also not immediately clear.

The U.S. State Department said on Twittger in a travel report to American travelers that it was "confirming media reports of gunshots & possible attempted uprising in Turkey. Remain vigilant." Social media — including Twitter, and Facebook —were all blocked in the country.

There were conflicting claims as to who had the upper hand in the struggle.

#UPDATE Turkish forces partially shut down two bridges across the Bosphorus Strait as jets scrambled over Ankara https://t.co/JbLHI5dh2A

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 15, 2016

"This cannot be called a coup for the moment. This is an uprising," Prime MinisterBinali Yildirim said, according to the Hurriet Daily News. He said a group within the military had taken action outside the chain of command.

The prime minister did not provide details, but said Turkey would never allow any “initiative that would interrupt democracy.”

The Turkish military, however, issued a statement saying that it had "fully seized control’ of running the country.

The private Dogan agency reported that the statement said that the military took action “to reinstall the constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms, to ensure that the rule of law once again reigns in the country, for the law and order to be reinstated.”

The military said that “all international agreements and commitments will remain. We pledge that good relations with all world countries will continue.”

The military statement was read over TRT television by a news anchor in the name of a so-called "peace ouncil," according to a local resident.

CNNTürk reported that the coup attempt got underway in Ankara when two busloads of soldiers entered the headquarters of the state-run TRT news agency, and that the channel then started to broadcast a stream of weather forecasts, Hurriet reported.

The head of the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) in a phone call with CNNTürk called on citizens to hit the streets, saying that a group of soldiers were trying to take him and other party members out of the building, Hurriet reported.

Contributing: Oren Dorell in Washington