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Facebook Live feed of CNN Turk broadcasts studio takeover by military

Facebook Live feed of CNN Turk broadcasts studio takeover by military

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The television studio of CNN Turk was allegedly taken over by armed members of the country’s military and its anchors forced off the air. However, the station was broadcasting its feed on Facebook Live at the time, and the stream is currently showing an empty studio while a crowd chants outside.

Gunfire and explosions have also been heard on the stream, where the audio appears to be from an open mic from within the studio. According to a report on CNN, the CNNTurk anchor said, "We don't know how much longer we can continue our broadcast," and that "we will try to continue our broadcast until the last moment."

The situation in Turkey is very fluid at the moment, with parts of the Turkish military claiming it has "taken over" the country, while President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the coup has been repelled and called on the public to take to the streets in support of the Government.

More than 5,000 people are watching the Facebook Live stream at the time of publishing. According to CNN's Brian Stelter, CNNTurk launched in 1999 and is operated by local journalists in Turkey while licensing the CNN name.

Because of the current crisis in Turkey, CNN Turk choose to share its broadcast on Facebook Live, something it doesn't normally do. It is also broadcasting a stream on its website, but that stream is laggy, perhaps because of the strain on internet traffic in the country. The Facebook Live stream appears lag-free in high definition.

It's also not the first time that the internet has been used in an unusual manner this evening. Earlier, Turkey's President used Apple's FaceTime video conferencing technology to call into a Turkish television station and make a statement to the country.

Update July 15th, 9:31PM ET: CNN Turk appears to be back on the air, with CNN Turk General Manager Ferhat Borate and Editor-in-Chief Erdogan Aktas telling the story of what happened.