Flights to Turkey diverted and departures from Istanbul's Ataturk Airport were cancelled as a coup attempt unfolded in the country on Friday and Turkey's military said it had seized power.

A Reuters witness in Istanbul, citing a pilot, said all upcoming flights from the Istanbul airport had been cancelled. Flight tracking website FlightAware.com so far listed 33 cancelled departures for Friday and Saturday.

A British Airways flight to Istanbul diverted to Sofia, Bulgaria, and a Lufthansa flight to Istanbul returned to its origin in Frankfurt, company spokeswomen told Reuters.

The US Federal Aviation Administration said all US-inbound flights from Istanbul that were in the air prior to the airport's closing would be allowed to land in the United States as planned.

Turkish Airlines and other carriers did not immediately comment. – Reuters