2016 defeated coup bid: Attack-damaged hotel rooms in Marmaris preserved for a decade

The traces left behind by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization's (FETO) assassination team at the hotel in Marmaris where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stayed during the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, have been preserved unchanged for the past 10 years to document the events of that night for future generations.

The hotel, which was attacked shortly after Erdogan departed during the coup attempt, has left the damaged sections unrepaired by management to display the destruction caused by the coup plotters.

Two family rooms that have remained closed to guests since the attack and still bear the scars of the assault were opened to an Anadolu team.

Rooms remain unchanged

To ensure the events of July 15 are not forgotten, hotel management has sealed off the damaged rooms with iron barriers.

No cleaning or restoration work has been carried out, leaving the scenes as they were on the night of the failed coup.

The rooms where Erdogan stayed, held meetings and where his security officers and personnel were stationed still contain bullet-damaged door locks, shattered furniture, broken mirrors, and walls and furnishings marked by bullet holes.

Broken windows in one of the rooms that sustained the heaviest damage have been concealed externally with decorative molding.

A pair of handcuffs belonging to a security officer who resisted the attackers remains on a bloodstained bed inside one of the rooms where clashes took place, while 18 bullet holes peppering a sofa illustrate the intensity of the attack.

Prayer rugs and prayer beads remain on the floor of the prayer room behind Erdogan's suite, while scattered files and documents on the meeting table and damage in the washroom have also been preserved.

Attack and legal proceedings

During the attack on the hotel, security officer Mehmet Cetin and police officer Nedip Cengiz Eker of the Marmaris Police Department were martyred.

The assassination team fled into nearby woodland but was captured after a 17-day manhunt.

In the trial held at the Mugla 2nd High Criminal Court, 31 defendants, including former Brigadier General Gokhan Sahin Sonmezates, who was found to have planned and directed the assassination attempt, former Major Sukru Seymen, who led the assassination team, and former Senior Master Sergeant Zekeriya Kuzu, known as FETO's so-called "Cigli Base Imam," were each sentenced to four aggravated life terms.

Three other defendants received one aggravated life sentence each, while six defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Former presidential aide-de-camp Ali Yazici was also sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for his role in planning and organizing the assassination attempt on Erdogan.

Authorities continue to search for fugitive former Captain Burkay Karatepe, who was a member of the assassination team.