The unmistakable sound of fighter jets and helicopters flying over the skies in Turkey is not uncommon, but the Vassallo family realised something was not quite right late last night when they looked out of their Ankara apartment window.

"When my son and wife looked out and saw a helicopter firing outside our window and pointing towards the State broadcaster building it suddenly became much more real and the sense of danger became apparent," Julian Vassallo told Times of Malta. 

The drama of what is increasingly looking like a failed coup was all too real for Dr Vassallo, whose apartment lies just 300 metres to Turkish State broadcaster TRT.

"It came under heavy attack from the special forces," said Dr Vassallo, who is the political counsellor to the EU delegation to Turkey and the former head of the European Parliament in Malta.

With online communication not disrupted, it was a long night for Dr Vassallo as he had the unenviable task of Brussels updated with the attempted coup.

"The feeling this morning is different – the coup has largely been put down. We're likely to see a return to a semblance of normalcy in a day or two... But we won't forget last night very quickly."

The attempted military coup appeared to crumble after crowds answered President Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets to support him and dozens of rebel soldiers abandoned their tanks. At least 90 people were killed in the violence after a faction of the armed forces attempted to seize power.