‘Fugitive commandos from Erdogan snatch squad seized in forest’

ELEVEN fugitive commandos suspected of trying to kidnap Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan during last month’s failed coup have been captured by special forces.

The 11 were allegedly part of a group which launched an attack on a hotel where Mr Erdogan was staying on the night of July 15 in the south-western resort of Marmaris.

The president, having been tipped off that he was in danger, had fled the by the time they arrived. During the coup attempt Mr Erdogan spoke live on TV via his mobile phone and said he had narrowly escaped an attempt on his life.

The st ate -run Anadolu Agenc y today reported that the soldiers were seized in a forest in Mugla province after special forces, supported by helicopters and drones, were sent to the area following a tip-off from a local resident.

Gunfire broke out as the special forces clashed with the fugitives but there were no reports of casualties. The rebels had been spotted by villag- ers hunting boar, according to reports. Their capture came after Turkey dismissed nearly 1,400 more members of its armed forces and stacked a highlevel military council with government ministers in moves to tighten control after the coup.

Mr Erdogan said he also wanted to put the country’s MIT intelligence agency and the chief of general staff ’s headquarters under the presidency. “If we can pass this small constitution package ... then the chief of general staff and MIT will be tied to the president,” he said. The proposal would need to be brought to parliament for a vote.

A total of 37 soldiers were reportedly involved in the operation to seize Mr Erdogan in Marmaris and 25 of them were caught earlier, the Anadolu Agency said.

The scale of Mr Erdogan’s crackdown since the coup attempt — more than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and schools have been ei t her det ai ned, s uspended or placed under investigation — has unnerved Turkey’s Nato allies, f uel l i ng t e ns i on bet ween Ankara and the West.

Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen is accused by Turkey of orchestrating the failed putsch. Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in the United States, has denied any involvement and condemned the coup.

Yesterday tens of thousands rallied in Germany in support of the Turkish president. Turkey criticised Germany for not allowing Mr Erdogan to address the rally in Cologne via video-link, a move authorities feared could stoke political tensions among the three million ethnic Turks living in Germany.