Soldiers linked to Erdogan hotel attack captured

ANKARA

Two more soldiers involved in an assassination attempt on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were captured early Monday in southwestern Turkey, an official told Anadolu Agency.

An operation to capture 11 soldiers had been carried out in Sirinkoy Village in Ula district by gendarme forces, who clashed with rogue soldiers, an eyewitness told Anadolu Agency. There were no reports of casualties.

Two of the captured soldiers were named as Mustafa Serdar Ozay and Muammer Gozubuyuk, according to an official.

On Sunday night, Mugla Governor Amir Cicek told Anadolu Agency that Major Sukru Seymen, alleged commander of fugitive soldiers, was among nine suspects arrested.

On July 25, three other fugitive soldiers were captured inside a culvert near the Marmaris-Mugla road.    

Over 20 suspected members of the military squad involved in the attack -- who are believed to have been ordered to capture or kill Erdogan -- were previously remanded in custody to face trial.

On July 15, Erdogan told the nation on live television amid an ongoing coup attempt that he had narrowly escaped an attack on his life when the hotel in Marmaris where he was staying was bombed only 15 minutes after he left.

Turkey survived a deadly coup attempt on July 15 by rogue elements within the military that killed more than 230 people and injured nearly 2,200 others.

Citizens valiantly took to the streets on that night, upon a call by Erdogan, and became the biggest factor in ensuring the failure of the attempted overthrow of a democratically-elected government.

Turkey's government has repeatedly said the coup attempt was organized by U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Fetullah Terrorist Organization.

Gulen is 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.

Reporting by Sinan Ozmus, Writing by Emin Avundukluoglu