Boris Johnson urges calm after Turkey coup attempt

BRITAIN'S new Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who has Turkish ancestry, has called for calm following the Turkish coup attempt.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calls for calm. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

He said: “We’ve been monitoring the situation in Turkey very closely overnight and remain very concerned about what’s been going on there.

“The first thing to say is obviously we want to urge calm, the avoidance of any further bloodshed, and it’s crucial that we support the democratic institutions of Turkey and that’s a message that was very much echoed of course by the Turkish foreign minister, my counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, to whom I spoke a couple of hours ago, and he was very grateful for UK support at the UN and elsewhere.”

He added: “Obviously I’ve also spoken to our diplomatic staff in Ankara and in Istanbul.

“They’re doing a fantastic job, they are working very hard as you can imagine to do the best for the many Brits who are there, the many people who are there on holiday and they should follow the travel advice and we’ll do our best to update you as soon as we can.”

Holidaymakers have been told to stay indoors.

Turkey’s president has told the nation that his government was in charge after the coup attempt brought a night of explosions, air battles and gunfire across the capital that left dozens dead.

The state-run news agency said more than 750 soldiers had been detained.

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/dozens-dead-after-military-in-turkey-launch-attempted-coup-1-4178865#ixzz4EZ4HN0kj

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