Firm stand of the Turkish people helped in foiling coup: Turkish envoy

Turkish ambassador to India Burak Akcapar said on Saturday, that the Turkish people have chosen to stand behind democracy and will not accept otherwise, adding that the coup by the Military clique had failed due to the firm stand by the people.

"It is obvious (the) Turkish people stand behind their democracy and democratically elected representatives. Turkish people will not accept any preposition as to who should rule the country," the envoy told ANI.

While commenting on the ongoing crisis in Turkey, Akcapar said there was a failed attempt by a section of the armed forces to overthrow the democratically elected government of the country.

"There was an attempted coup aiming at overthrowing the democratically elected government of the Turkey. But that coup attempt failed because of the firm stand of the Turkish people who have taken to the streets and taken control of the situation in addition to of course, the Turkish security forces," said Akcapar.

He pointed out that it was only a small clique of the Turkish armed forces and not the army as whole that was involved in the coup.

He added that the Turkish Government has taken control and normalcy has started to come back in the region step by step. The Ataturk airport has also been opened.

The coup started on Friday night when military personnel blockaded the two bridges that cross the Bosphorus straight connecting the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. Uncertainty followed as the military issued a declaration it had seized control of Turkey.

However, supporters of the country's elected president and armed forces took to the streets to counter the putschists.

So far, around 60 people have been killed and hundreds have been injured in the violence.

Early on Saturday morning, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plane landed in Istanbul and he asserted that the coup had been repelled and he remained in charge.

In a live TV address after his arrival at Istanbul Ataturk airport, where he was welcomed by crowds, Erdogan said the uprising was an act of "treason" and that those responsible would pay a "heavy price".

Apparently the coup was conducted by a section of the military as some top commanders took to television to condemn the action and order troops back to their barracks.