18 July 2016•Update: 18 July 2016
By Durmus Genc
MUGLA, Turkey
Gendarmeries in southwest Turkey have seized weapons and military equipment thought to have been used by the pro-coup troops who stormed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s holiday hotel, local officials said Monday.
The equipment -- including assault rifles, handguns, grenades, ammunition, helmets, body armor and night-vision gear -- was found in a wooded area on Sunday near the Grand Yazici Marmaris Hotel outside Marmaris, where the president had been staying Friday night.
In a statement, the Mugla governor’s office said the equipment was seized by the provincial gendarmerie command.
An operation is still underway to capture the helicopter-borne troops who attacked the hotel on Friday night a short time after Erdogan had left the area for Istanbul after being alerted to the coup attempt.
Two police officers were killed in the ensuing gun battle and seven others injured.
It was unclear whether the equipment was abandoned following the raid on the hotel or had been stored for use during the attack.
The statement added that two air force sergeants were arrested nearby on Sunday with a quantity of weapons.
More than 6,000 people, around half of them military personnel, have been arrested following the coup attempt, which is said to have been organized by followers of U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen.
He is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the government through supporters within the Turkish state and is the main suspect in two investigations launched by Istanbul prosecutors, according to judicial sources speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
