Erdogan supporters hold vigils after attempted coup.
Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gathered in public squares, at Istanbul airport, and in front of his palace overnight, after a failed coup attempt killed at least 265 people and raised expectations of a heavy crackdown on dissidents.
ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gathered in public squares, at Istanbul airport, and in front of his palace overnight after a failed coup attempt killed at least 265 people and raised expectations of a heavy crackdown on dissidents.
Rebel soldiers used tanks, attack helicopters and fighter jets to try to overthrow Erdogan on Friday night, attacking the Parliament and intelligence services building in Ankara, seizing a bridge and surrounding the airport in Istanbul.
Authorities on Saturday identified nearly 3 suspects involved in the military coup, including senior commanders and rank-and-file soldiers, and ordered the arrest of thousands more after forces loyal to Erdogan suppressed the coup attempt.
"Let's hang them!" chanted the crowds in Ankara's central square, Kizilay, on Saturday night.
Erdogan's supporters, waving Turkish flags, also packed Taksim Square in central Istanbul, the site of major anti-government protests three years ago. A small crowd gathered outside the gates of his sprawling presidential palace in the capital.
For at least eight hours on Friday night, episodes of violence rocked Turkey's two largest cities. But the attempted coup fizzled out after Erdogan hurried back to Istanbul following a Mediterranean vacation and called on people to take to the streets in support of his government and against those accused of trying to assassinate him.
(By Nick Tattersall and Dasha Afanasieva)