Britain’s new foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has expressed grave concern about an attempted military coup in Turkey, saying London supports the Turkish government.

Johnson, who was appointed to the post on Wednesday, said he had spoken to his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Saturday and expressed his support for Turkey’s “democratic elected government and institutions.”

“We’ve been monitoring the situation in Turkey very closely overnight and remain very concerned about what’s been going on there,” the foreign secretary said.

“The first thing to say is obviously we want to urge calm, the avoidance of any further bloodshed,” added Johnson, who has Turkish ancestry.

Late on Friday night, a faction of the armed forces used tanks and attack helicopters in an ill-fated attempt to seize power from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Erdogan and Yildirim, however, appeared on television soon after the coup was launched, declaring an early end to the attempt. At least 160 people were killed in the violence, including many civilians.

Johnson said he has also talked to British diplomatic staff in Ankara and in Istanbul and called on Britons “who are there on holiday … [to] follow the travel advice and we’ll do our best to update you as soon as we can.”

In a statement, the Foreign Office called on Britons in Turkey to “stay indoors, avoid public places, in particular demonstrations, and remain vigilant.”

Johnson had once offended Erdogan, by writing a limerick for the Spectator magazine while he was still mayor of London. He wrote the offensive poem after the magazine asked for entries to protest against Erdogan’s attempts to prosecute a comedian in Germany.

Johnson's appointment as Britain's top diplomat raised many eyebrows in Turkey.

Turkey’s Daily Sabah described him as “anti-Turkey,” whose appointment “raises questions about the future of Britain’s international relations”. The daily also highlighted comments by Johnson as mayor that expressed support for the PKK.

The Turkish presidency, however, issued a statement on Thursday, saying “Turkey’s relationship with the United Kingdom goes beyond personalities.”

“We expect Mr Johnson to act in a professional and cordial manner in his new capacity. We have no reason to doubt that the United Kingdom will continue to treat PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ party) as what it is: a terrorist organization,” said the statement.