A Turkish group opposed to the government has taken over a frigate at Turkey’s Golcuk naval base and the head of the Turkish fleet is being held hostage, a senior Greek military source told Reuters on Saturday.

Earlier, Turkey asked Greece to return eight soldiers who fled there in a helicopter, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter. The soldiers are believed to have fled hours after a military faction attempted to overthrow the government.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan sent a mass text message to Turkish mobile phones on Saturday imploring Turks to “stand up” for democracy and peace.


161 people have been killed in the coup attempt against the government on Saturday, with 2,839 soldiers now detained on suspicion of involvement according to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Yildirim, speaking outside his Cankaya palace in Ankara and flanked by top general Hulusi Akar who was held during the coup attempt, also described the putsch bid as a “black stain” on Turkish democracy. He added that 1,440 people had been wounded.