Suspect in 2016 attempt to assassinate Erdoğan detained

ANKARA

Turkish police have detained a former military officer wanted over the 2016 attempt to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the southwestern resort town of Marmaris, the Interior Ministry announced on Aug. 1.

The suspect, identified only by the initials B.K., was detained in the western province of Afyonkarahisar after being sought under a Red Notice for 10 years, the ministry said.

According to the statement, B.K. was a dismissed captain and helicopter pilot who served in the special forces team that targeted the hotel where Erdoğan had been staying on the night of the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Two police officers were killed in the attack.

Police intelligence units in Afyonkarahisar and Eskişehir located the suspect in a joint operation coordinated by the General Directorate of Security’s Intelligence Department. Counterterrorism officers in Afyonkarahisar carried out the detention.

FETÖ terrorists orchestrated the 2016 coup attempt, which killed more than 250 people.