AKIPRESS.COM - A violent, chaotic night in Turkey ended with at least 60 people dead following an attempted coup, officials said, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's reappearance after hours of uncertainty, CCN reports from Turkey. 

While it was unclear whether Erdogan had quashed the uprising, the government was slowly reasserting its authority Saturday morning.

At least 754 people were arrested in the attempted coup, state-run Anadolu agency reported, citing the interior ministry. More than 30 senior army officers have been suspended.

At least 42 people -- mostly police officers -- were killed in Ankara in a gunfire exchange with a helicopter near the parliament complex, Turkey's NTV reported, citing the attorney general's office. At least 1,000 people in Istanbul and Ankara were hospitalized after a night of violence rocked the country.

In Istanbul, a defiant Erdogan addressed crowds in the city, telling them that the coup had been quashed.

"The government is in control," he told supporters as they chanted his name.

"Fifty percent of the people elected the President and that President is on duty," he said.

"My brothers, I want you to know this: Those who brought these tanks out -- what happened to these tanks? My people took these tanks back, haven't they? So far as we believe, so far as we're alive, we'll be prepared to die in the cause to tackle these people. But we will stand firm, we're not going to compromise."

The alleged plotters have not released any statement.

Shortly after dawn, video footage showed soldiers surrendering in masses. They walked away from tanks and abandoned their posts on the Bosphorus Bridge, which connects the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Turkish Airlines resumed flights out of Ataturk, which had earlier been overrun by protesters.

Opposition soldiers had attempted to seize control overnight in various locations across the country, including the capital Ankara. Erdogan traveled overnight from the seaside resort of Marmaris and addressed the country Saturday from Istanbul's Ataturk airport. He called the attempt "treason."