News Desk :Some 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers, have been arrested over an attempted coup that is now over, says Turkey’s PM Binali Yildirim, according to agencies.Out of 265 people killed, 161were government forces and civilians. “Systemic operations are complete” against the attempted coup but mopping up measures could still take hours, Hakan Fidan, head of the country’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) said, according to a government official.People have taken to the streets of Istanbul, lining the sides of major roads and holding the red and white Turkish flag in support of the civilian government and against the coup attempt.The army’s acting chief of staff, Umit Dundar, told a news conference that 104 so-called coup plotters and at least 47 civilians had been killed. Yildirim told a news conference that 1,440 people had been injured and 2,839 military personnel had been detained.Prime Minister Yildirim said the situation was now “completely under control” and the government’s commanders were now back in charge.Earlier, the acting military chief of staff Umit Dundar said officers from the air force, the military police and armoured units had been mainly involved in the coup attempt.He said that although the chief of staff had been rescued, several military commanders were still being held hostage. Eight military personnel involved in the coup attempt fled to Greece by helicopter, seeking political asylum. Greece says it is considering Turkey’s request for their extradition.Earlier, some 200 unarmed soldiers left Turkey’s military headquarters in Ankara and surrendered to police, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Dramatic images showed dozens of soldiers walking away from their tanks with their hands up on one of Istanbul’s Bosphorus bridges.Explosions and gunfire were heard in Ankara, Istanbul and elsewhere overnight and thousands of Turks heeded President Erdogan’s call to rise up against the coup-plotters. It is unclear who was behind the coup. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed a “parallel structure”, in a clear reference to Fethullah Gulen, a powerful but reclusive US-based Muslim cleric whom he accuses of fomenting unrest.However, in a statement, Mr Gulen rejected any suggestion he had links to the events, saying he condemned “in the strongest terms, the attempted military coup in Turkey”.The attempted coup happened because Turkey is deeply divided over President Erdogan’s project to transform the country and because of the contagion of violence from the war in Syria.President Erdogan and his AK Party have become experts at winning elections, but there have always been doubts about his long-term commitment to democracy. He is a political Islamist who has rejected modern Turkey’s secular heritage. Mr Erdogan has become increasingly authoritarian and is trying to turn himself into a strong executive president.The permanent army chief of staff, Hulusi Akar, was freed by government forces having been held hostage at an army base in Ankara for a period, an official told Al Jazeera. Speaking at a news conference in Istanbul after arriving to the capital from the coastal city of Marmaris, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the attempt to push him from power was “an act of treason” and that those behind the plot would “pay a heavy price”.He said he intended to stay with his “people” and not go anywhere.”Shortly after I left [Marmaris] I have been told they bombed the locations where I was,” he told reporters. “I assume they thought I was still there when they bombed those places.”Speaking to thousands of supporters outside Ataturk Airport on Saturday morning, Erdogan said the coup plotters had pointed “the people’s guns against the people”.”The president, whom 52 percent of the people brought to power, is in charge,” Erdogan said. “This government brought to power by the people, is in charge. They won’t succeed as long as we stand against them by risking everything.”Turkish president Erdogan says army faction attempted coup – complete speechAs he spoke, live footage showed dozens of soldiers involved in the coup surrendering on one of the bridges across the Bosphorus in Istanbul, abandoning their tanks with their hands raised in the air.”Clearly the cleansing of the military from those elements who joined or supported the coup is already under way,” Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said.”This is going to continue for days to come, and I think there are probably going to be tribunals within the military to see who supported the coup.”Greek officials said a Turkish military helicopter landed in the city of Alexandroupolis, close to the border, and that eight people had claimed asylum. Turkey’s foreign minister said the government had requested their extradition. There were still pockets of resistance in the capital Ankara into Saturday morning, an official told Al Jazeera.In Ankara, jets dropped bombs over the Bestepe district, where the presidential palace is located, with plumes of black smoke seen rising early on Saturday.There were also reports of an explosion at the parliament building in the capital.Al Jazeera’s Ece Goksedef, reporting from Ankara on Saturday morning (9am local time, 06:00 GMT), said the city had been quiet for several hours.Military jets were still in the sky above the capital, but there has been no sound of fighting, Goksedef said, adding that there were only a few locations in the country where the coup plotters were holding out.People stand on a Turkish army tank in the capital Ankara [Tumay Berkin/Reuters]The prime minister said the military had been ordered by the presidency to shoot down planes hijacked by those involved in the coup attempt and that jets had been scrambled.Officials said fighter jets had shot down a helicopter used by anti-government forces over Ankara.
