Turkish Army units launch coup

Turkish Army officers claimed they had taken control of the country to restore the democratic order, according to reports.

In a statement sent on Friday night, the military said it had acted to defend "freedom" and "democracy" in Turkey.

Vehicle traffic across the Bosphorus had been closed and all flights out of Istanbul cancelled as military aircraft reportedly flew at low altitude over the capital, Ankara.

"The power in the country has been seized in its entirety," the military group said in a statement read out on NTV television.

As of 22:30 BST it was unclear whether the entire army was involved or not.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said it was an "illegal action" undertaken by a military "group", claiming it was not a coup and that the government remained in charge.

Reports indicated that president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom some reports said was on vacation in Bodrum at the time of the coup, was safe.

According to Bloomberg, Erdogan’s office said in an e-mailed statement that the army’s action wasn’t authorized by its top commanders.

Eye witnesses reported lines of people at some ATM´s withdrawing money following the events just as other media reports indicated that state broadcaster TRT had gone off air.

The US dollar was 4.78% stronger against the Turkish lira to 3.0157 as of 22:42 BST.