Four political parties at the parliament issued a joint statement to condemn a failed coup attempt by a group of soldiers in Turkey, which started late on Friday and was suppressed early on Saturday.
“We vehemently condemn the suppressed coup attempt and the attacks targeting the Parliament,” the statement by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the National Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) said.
“Our Parliament has bravely taken a dignified stance against the coup [attempt] as one heart, one body. It has given the necessary answer to the coup plotters and the world,” the statement added.
The four parties also underlined in the joint statement that the determination of the Parliament in the face of the ominous coup attempt is highly valuable for Turkey’s democracy to further flourish and improve.
A group of soldiers attempted a military coup that started around 10 p.m. on Friday, when military tanks rolled onto the streets of Ankara and İstanbul and soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. The military’s claim of a takeover was read on state broadcaster TRT. The anchor said the military imposed martial law and declared a curfew until further notice.
However, the coup attempt lost momentum after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan returned from vacation at the seaside resort of Marmaris.
At least 161 people, including soldiers and police, were killed and 1,440 others were injured, while 2,839 soldiers were detained so far, according to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım’s statement on Saturday.