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DFA: Filipinos safe in Turkey, advised to stay indoors

MANILA: The Philippines is closely monitoring the developments in Turkey amid an attempted military coup, to ensure the safety of Filipinos there, a senior government official has said.

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar has assured that the Philippine embassy has already reached out to its nationals in the European country.

“Nakatutok ang gobyerno at nakausap na ng embahada ang mga pinoy doon (The government is monitoring and our embassy has already talked to the Filipinos there),” Andanar said.

There are approximately 3,500 Filipinos in Turkey.The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said that all Filipinos in Turkey are safe. It has also advised its nationals there to stay indoors.

“They were advised by the embassy to stay home. The embassy continues to monitor the situation closely,” said a statement by DFA spokesperson Charles Jose.

A coup attempt swept the country on Friday night but was foiled by Saturday morning.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier blamed the movement led by Turkey’s Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen now living in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania for the coup.

Ankara has been accusing the movement of running a parallel state and trying to topple the Turkish government.

At least 161 people were reportedly killed and 1,440 wounded in the coup attempt.

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