Fugitive from Erdoğan assassination squad breaks silence after 10 years: leads police to buried guns in Marmaris
A former Special Forces captain wanted for 10 years over the Marmaris assassination attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the July 15 coup attempt has confessed to taking part in the attack and opening fire, prosecutors say.
RastinewsTurkish authorities have launched a large-scale search based on locations identified by Burkay Karatepe, a former Special Forces captain wanted for 10 years over his alleged role in the assassination attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Marmaris during the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Prosecutors said Karatepe admitted taking part in the attack and opening fire.
Extensive search operations have begun in the Marmaris district of Muğla based on statements from Karatepe, a former member of the Special Forces Command who had been sought under a Red Notice for 10 years over his alleged involvement in the assassination attempt against Erdoğan in Marmaris on the night of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Under the coordination of the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, investigators carried out an on-site identification exercise with Karatepe — who was captured in Afyonkarahisar on August 1 and formally arrested on August 5 — in the Armutalan and İçmeler neighborhoods, where he reportedly said he buried long-barreled weapons, a pistol and ammunition along his escape route after the coup attempt.
The prosecutor-ordered operation involves 155 personnel, drawn from the Police Special Operations units of the General Directorate of Security and gendarmerie commando units. Twenty-three detectors and three tracking dogs are being used in the search.
As part of the investigation, DNA samples taken from Karatepe's blood and hair are being compared against weapons previously seized in the area, to establish any link. Areas he pointed to, as well as locations where weapons were found in the past, are being re-examined.
The Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said Karatepe stated in his testimony that he joined the FETÖ network in 1998, was active within the organization's covert structure during his years at military school, and used the code name "Selim."
According to prosecutors, Karatepe said he passed information about the Special Forces Command to the organization's covert handlers during his time in service, met Fethullah Gülen in Pennsylvania while in the United States in 2012, and married on the organization's instructions.
The statement said Karatepe was drawn into the assassination squad on the night of July 15 following organizational meetings in Istanbul, joined the team that traveled from İzmir's Çiğli district to Marmaris, and admitted opening fire during the armed attack on the hotel where the president was staying.
Prosecutors also said that after the coup attempt failed, Karatepe hid in Afyonkarahisar for roughly seven years under a fake identity registered to the name "Salih Usta," used identity documents and mobile lines belonging to other people, and kept in touch with his family by email.
According to an earlier statement from the Interior Ministry, Karatepe was captured in an operation in Afyonkarahisar following months of surveillance by intelligence units. Searches of his safe house turned up a large amount of gold and foreign currency, along with digital materials, a fake ID, organizational documents and various other items.
Police officer Mehmet Çetin, a bodyguard, and police officer Nedip Cengiz Eker were killed in the attack in Marmaris on the night of July 15, 2016. In the trial over the assassination attempt, numerous defendants, including team commanders, were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. Burkay Karatepe, a fugitive and one of the last remaining wanted names in the case, was captured 10 years later.