Turkey in turmoil

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)

Up to press time last night it was not clear whether a reported attempted coup by the Turkish army or a group within the army had succeeded.

Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency says that 17 police officers have been killed in a helicopter attack on police special forces headquarters on the outskirts of Ankara.

Loud explosions were heard earlier in Turkey's capital after the military said it seized full control of the country.

But government officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to play down reports that the military was in control. Erdogan called for citizens to take to the streets in a show of support for the government, and said the coup attempt would be unsuccessful.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman says that "democratic order" must be respected in Turkey.

A top Turkish official says the coup attempt within the country's military appears to have been unsuccessful.

The senior official told The Associated Press all government officials are in charge of their offices, but cautioned that the chief of military staff hasn't appeared in public yet.

The White House says President Barrack Obama has talked on the phone with Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the events in Turkey.

It says the two agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected government of Turkey, show restraint, and avoid any violence or bloodshed.