AKIPRESS.COM - Turkey was plunged into chaos on Friday after elements of the military launched a coup, tanks deployed in major cities and people swarmed onto the streets in a show of support for the elected government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, CNN reported from Turkey. 

Branches of the police and army fought pitched battles for control of government buildings in the streets of the capital, Ankara, and protesters confronted tanks in Istanbul as Turkey, a NATO member and key U.S. ally, spun out of control.

Turkish airspace was closed and international flights were suspended as the coup plotters flew around in helicopters firing on government buildings. At least 42 people were killed in the violence in Ankara, including a lawmaker who died when the parliament was bombed by a helicopter, Turkish officials said.

Video footage on social media showing bloodied bodies in the streets of Ankara and helicopters firing on crowds protesting the coup attempt raised fears that the toll could be higher.

Early Saturday morning, Turkish officials said the government had managed to wrest back control from the coup plotters, whose identity remained unclear. A Turkish warplane shot down a helicopter carrying some of the coup leaders, the officials said, and the state broadcaster, which had been off air for several hours after it was overrun by members of the military, was back on air.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim issued orders early Saturday to the military aircraft pilots still loyal to the government to take to the skies to shoot down any remaining planes flying on behalf of the coup plotters, who appeared to include a sizeable proportion of the air force.

“The situation is largely in control,” Yildirim told Turkey’s NTV television channel. “All commanders are in charge. The people have taken steps to address this threat.”

Erdogan, whose party won a comfortable majority in elections last year, then appealed to his supporters to take to the streets to protest the coup. He spoke to the nation using the FaceTime app on the phone of a Turkish TV anchor.

Many thousands responded, with protesters gathering in venues including Istanbul’s central Taksim Square and outside Erdogan’s palace in Ankara. Mobile phone videos uploaded to social media sites showed scenes in which people scrambled over tanks to try to block their path and soldiers opening fire on some of the crowds.

Turkish officials blamed the coup attempt on a small group of disgruntled military officers loyal to the movement of a U.S.-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who maintains a network of adherents across Turkey and has long challenged Erdogan’s hold on power. The officers were destined to lose their jobs in August during a military reshuffle, said the Turkish official.