The Latest: Thousands march in Istanbul to famed coup bridge

People take part in the "National Unity March" to commemorate the one year anniversary of the July 15, 2016 botched coup attempt, in Istanbul, Saturday, July 15, 2017. Turkey commemorates the first anniversary of the July 15 failed military attempt to overthrow Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with a series of events honoring some 250 people, who were killed across Turkey while trying to oppose coup-plotters (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

By Associated Press July 15, 2017 4 min read

ISTANBUL (AP) – The Latest on the first anniversary since Turkey quashed last summer’s coup attempt (all times local):

7 p.m.

Thousands of people are marching from several Istanbul neighborhoods to converge at the iconic July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge in a “national unity march” to commemorate the anniversary of Turkey’s failed coup attempt.

The bridge, then called the Bosporus Bridge, was closed off on the night of July 15, 2016, with three tanks wielded by 136 soldiers attempting to overthrow the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Thousands of people, heeding a call by Erdogan, took to the streets last year to stop the coup attempt and clashed with the coup plotters. At least 30 people died on the bridge and 220 others elsewhere, according to official publications. The soldiers surrendered at daybreak.