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2,000 Police Troops Summoned in Istanbul, Ordered to Down Helicopters

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Emergency measures have been taken in Turkey's Istanbul, as 1,800 additional police troops were deployed in the city and ordered to shoot down helicopters without prior warning, local media reported on Monday, citing a police source.

Special operation troops are deployed in strategic locations of the city while military hardware is arriving to the city, Anadolu agency said. The emergency provisions are underway in response to at least three helicopters flying over Istanbul that have been hijacked away from the Erdogan government.

​As Sputnik News reported earlier, there are at least 42 helicopters that have gone missing in the aftermath of the coup which left many to expect that a second attempt at an overthrow of the Erdogan government was imminent. The Erdogan government has responded by dispatching F-16s to command the airspace and assembling 2000 police officers who are ordered to shoot down the renegade helicopters without warning. 

The city of Istanbul is now under a state of emergency while the government attends to the ongoing security threat from at least three helicopters that have been snatched from the Erdogan government and are patrolling the skies allegedly with an intent to attack Turkish officials and the public.

It has now been reported that there are a total of five helicopters being flown by anti-Erdogan forces that are barreling into Istanbul for a direct conflict.

In the aftermath of the coup, authorities have rounded up 6000 people and the Turkish foreign ministry has issued statements reassuring that the government is back in complete control. The foreign ministry has raised the death toll to more than 290, including over 100 rebels, and says over 2,000 people were injured.

Many on social media are now wondering whether there is another coup attempt afoot as President Erdogan has flown out of Istanbul back to Ankara.

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