Defiant Turkish civilians reclaimed the country from their own military after helping to end a coup by the army to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who called on people to remain on the streets today over fears over a fresh uprising.
Ordinary Turks confronted rifle-wielding soldiers, climbed atop tanks and laid in front of military vehicles in an effort to take back control of the country, ignoring a curfew issued by coup plotters designed to allow the army to bring down the government unopposed.
President Erdogan called on people to take to the streets, leading to reports of groups of soldiers surrendering at several key locations in Ankara and Istanbul, including Bosphorus Bridge, where 100 rebels laid down their arms and submitted themselves to advancing civilians and police officers.
This morning the President used Twitter to call on supporters to prevent any additional military action, adding: 'We should keep on owning the streets no matter at what stage because a new flare-up could take place at any moment.'
Some 104 plotters were killed after a coup attempt to bring down the Turkish government, while 160 people - at least 41 of them police and 47 civilians - fell as 'martyrs'.
Throughout the night, supporters of Erdogan threw themselves in front of tanks at key landmarks to prevent the military from maintaining a stranglehold on the country, notably outside Ataturk airport in Istanbul, where some civilians lodged themselves under the wheels of tanks to stop them from advancing.
More than 2,800 rebels have been detained after their failed military coup that killed at least 250 and wounded more than 1,500, with Erdogan vowing revenge for the bloody uprising. READ MORE
