Photo: AFP

Turkish state broadcaster TRT has gone off air in the last few minutes, Reuters reports. Earlier, soldiers reportedly took control of its offices and an announcer read out a statement declaring martial law.

In his first comments today, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told CNN Turk, in a webcam interview, that this was an act encouraged by a “parallel structure”. He said the coup attempt will be given the “necessary response” and called on Turkish people to go out on the streets.

Access to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube was blocked in Turkey soon after reports of a coup emerged, according to Reuters.

“Turkey Blocks, a group that monitors internet shutdowns in the country, and Dyn, which monitors internet performance and traffic globally, both reported it was difficult or impossible to access social media services in Turkey,” it says.