Eleven of the 12 soldiers involved in the assassination attempt on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 15, who were still on the run, were captured in southwestern Turkey on Sunday.
The governor of Muğla province confirmed that nine of the 12 fugitive soldiers were captured in night operations after two people in Muğla's Ula district informed the police that they had seen the suspects in a corn field. One of the coup soldiers captured is the team leader, commander Şükrü Seymen,the governor added.
Two other soldiers were captured early Monday.
Reports said that no one was injured in the operation.
Last Monday, seven soldiers involved in the assassination attempt were detained in the southwest.
On Saturday, three other commandos involved in the coup were detained for attempting to assassinate Erdoğan. Sergeant Zekeriya Kuzu, one of the detainees, confessed that all soldiers involved in the assassination attempt were members of the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ).
Kuzu, who was allegedly the main Gülenist figure at Çiğli Air Base, pleaded guilty and confessed in his testimony that he is affiliated with FETÖ and has been in contact with the terrorist organization since 2007.
He said that Maj. Gen. Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş told the group of soldiers headed toward Erdoğan's hotel to assassinate him to "take the president and come back." In his testimony, Kuzu said that he asked the assassination team if all of them were affiliated with FETÖ and nobody denied it.
After the confrontation with police at the hotel where Erdoğan and his family were staying in Marmaris, Şükrü told all the soldiers to take money from the police officers who were killed.
Kuzu also said that the major and lieutenant told him that they would be killed by Gülenists if they were detained by the authorities.
Gülenists in the military were instructed to act like they did not know each other even if they met outside the military and were told to report everything happening at the base to FETÖ's representative there, Kuzu said, adding that he met and spoke with other Gülenists in person rather than over the phone.
