Here is another update from Gabriel Turner, 23, from north London who is on holiday in Istanbul and has been keeping The Telegraph abreast with developments throughout the evening.

Speaking from his hostel in Istanbul, he said: "Half an hour ago, there was a big rattle of gunfire and just after there was a big bang.It sounded like the gun shots were some distance away.

"The streets are completely empty, no one is around. everyone has run home. Everyone is very anxious."

While Mr Turner was on the phone to The Telegraph, he ran inside from his hostel's roof terrace after hearing a loud boom from a military jet flying low overhead.

"There was a huge boom, like a sonic boom," he said. "That is a new development. Earlier this evening it has just been police helicopters and military copters flying with no lights on, about three or four of them.

"Everyone is saying that the coup is over and the Government has won. All the coup helicopters in Ankara have been shot down by Government jets, people are saying. People think it will go back to normal soon.

"Just now the muezzins have issued a call to prayer, it normally is at dawn but they have done it at night. People aren't sure why - it could be to encourage people to come out onto the streets, or it could be to try and spiritually unite the country."