The Department of Foreign Affairs said the approximately 3,500 Filipinos in Turkey are all safe.
Malacañang on Saturday said it was closely monitoring the attempted military coup in Turkey that left at least 104 people dead in violence that erupted on Friday after a faction of the armed forces attempted but failed to overthrow Turkey’s democratically elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“They [Filipinos in Turkey] were advised by the embassy to stay home. The embassy continues to monitor the situation closely,” DFA spokesman Asec. Charles Jose said in a statement.
Forces loyal to the Turkish government fought on Saturday to crush the remnants of a military coup attempt which crumbled after crowds answered Erdogan’s call to take to the streets and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
Erdogan appeared to accuse the coup plotters of trying to kill him. He insisted that he was still in power and vowed that the coup plotters would pay a “very heavy price.”
Turkish authorities have detained about 1,500 members of the armed forces, officials said. The chief of staff, who was reported to have been held hostage by the rebels, has been rescued.
Relatedly, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte condemned the brutal terror attacks in the southern French city of Nice, killing at least 84 people after a truck plowed through a crowd celebrating Bastille Day.
“I would like to take this opportunity to make a public statement, to say that we share the grief of France in the rampage of multiple murders of their citizens. We condemn the brutal and violent the way that people were, [no ran over by a truck,] a terrorist act,” Duterte said in a public statement Friday night over state broadcaster RTVM in Davao City.
“We join the rest of the world in mourning and express our solidarity with France, against terrorism, against what is fundamentally evil. Rest assured that we join you in your fight against terrorism,” he added.
French President Francois Hollande said in a national television address that the attacks were clearly “an act of terrorism.” He added that the choice of the day — Bastille Day, when France celebrates its post-French Revolution republic — was particularly poignant.
Hollande said security measures will be increased and an existing state of emergency, which was scheduled to end later this month, will be extended by three months.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Barack Obama and other world leaders have expressed their sympathy with France on the brutal attacks.