Trump blames Turkish coup on Hillary Clinton

Donald Trump blamed rival Hilary Clinton for much of the unrest that struck Turkey on Friday, but appeared to stand in solidarity with the Turkish government after it survived a military coup.

The controversial Republican presidential nominee made the comments in passing during a speech in the US, stating "it looks like they're [Turkey] resolving the difficulty".

"As far as Turkey is concerned, so many friends in Turkey, great people, amazing people," he said. "We wish them well. It looks like they're resolving the difficulty, but we wish them well."

But, he went on, "the Middle East today is more unstable than ever before," pinning the blame on Clinton's time as secretary of state under the Obama administration.

His democratic rival  had led the president "down a horrible path," plunging "Iraq, Syria, all into chaos," he maintained.

On Friday, the Turkish military overran official state media to declare a coup against President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan.

The announcement sparked civil unrest with thousands taking to the streets to resist the coup. Just hours later, Erdogan landed in Istanbul and declared the coup had failed, detaining thousands of coup plotters and dismissing army generals.