A woman accused of helping her brother, one of the most wanted suspects in the July 15, 2016 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), was apprehended on Friday in Muğla, the southwestern Turkish province where her brother is being questioned following his capture last week.
The woman, identified as A.A.K., allegedly supplied food and cash and found hideouts for Burkay Karatepe, an army captain who sought to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while he was on the run. Authorities said she was detained in a hotel room in Muğla’s Menteşe district. Police were also searching her home in the central province of Eskişehir.
Karatepe, who has cooperated with authorities since his capture, admitted that his family had helped him remain in hiding after he fled Marmaris in Muğla, where the assassination attempt on Erdoğan, who was staying at a hotel there on July 15, 2016, was foiled. Meanwhile, Karatepe was escorted by police and a prosecutor as he retraced the route of his escape in Marmaris. Police are also searching for the weapons and ammunition he reportedly hid in the Marmaris countryside after fleeing. Other members of the assassination team accompanying Karatepe were captured in the countryside within days of the coup attempt.
He told investigators that he first traveled to İzmir after the coup attempt failed. He said he initially took shelter at the home of a couple originally from his hometown in Afyonkarahisar. He later contacted his father before returning to his hometown, where he hid in a house owned by his grandfather. According to his statement, his immediate family gathered at the house, and everyone was aware of his involvement in the coup attempt. Karatepe then met his father, who helped him hide in the countryside near his hometown. He later moved to central Afyon, used a fake ID under the name "Salih," and kept a low profile while working odd jobs, including at construction sites and as a junk collector.
