Turkey: Elite commandos that planned to seize Erdogan on holiday found hiding in woodland

Eleven Turkish commandos who planned seize the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdrogan on the night of a failed coup have been arrested by security forces.

The putschists raided Erdrogan's hotel near the Aegean resort of Marmari in the country on the night of 15 July, hoping to capture or kill him as armoured vehicles and troops moved into position across Istanbul and Ankara during the night of the coup.

However, the Turkish leader, who was on holiday at the time, is believed to have left the resort just hours before the before the attempt, the AP reported.

The last two soldiers, who are understood to have taken refuge in a wooded area near the resort, were captured late on Sunday 31 August, bringing the total captured to 11. One suspect is still at large.

In the aftermath of the military coup attempt against the increasingly autocratic Erdogan regime, the Turkish president has engaged in a relentless crackdown on opposition groups, journalists and the judiciary. The government accuses US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup. Gulen denies any knowledge of the attempt to overthrow the government.

Besides detaining, removing and punishing thousands of personnel from state-backed institutions, Ankara has been streamlining various establishments, especially the military. As many as 1,700 military personnel, who include top generals and admirals, were dishonourably discharged earlier this week.

Under new proposals, the country's military academies would be replaced by a national defence university, he said in an interview with the pro-government broadcaster A Haber on Saturday (30 July). The announcements are likely to be included in the official gazette on 31 July, following an approval from parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the main airbase in capital Ankara and other key military installations in Istanbul would be shut down. Those bases, used by the engineers of the coup, would instead be turned into the memorials for the victims, who died in the coup attempt.