Four more soldiers have been detained in southwestern Turkey on Monday in connection with the attack on the hotel President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was staying at during the July 15 failed coup, according to security sources.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, told Anadolu Agency that Command Sergeant Majors Zekeriya Kuzu, Omer Faruk Gocmen, Abdulhamit Gulerden and Technical Sergeant Erkan Cikat were accused of being among the soldiers who attacked Erdogan’s hotel in Marmaris, on the Mediterranean coast.
With this recent round of detentions, the number of detainees has increased to seven. Major Taner Berber and Sergeants Ilyas Yasar and Gokhan Guclu were detained earlier.
An operation is still underway to capture the other soldiers who attacked the hotel on the night of the coup, narrowly missing the president, who had left for Istanbul.
So far, 25 soldiers have been remanded into custody for their alleged links to the Marmaris attack.
Turkey’s government has repeatedly said the deadly coup attempt on July 15, which resulted in the martyrdom of at least 246 people and injured more than 2,100 others, was organized by followers of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen is also accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.
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