Turkey detains more coup suspects, summons German diplomat

Turkey has captured eleven suspected of breaking into a hotel where Erdogan was staying during the coup, on the same day summoning senior German diplomat over pro-Erdogan Cologne rally snub.
2 min read
01 August, 2016
Erdogan is moving to consolidate power after the coup [AFP]

Turkey's state-run news agency says authorities have captured two more people suspected of being part of a group of soldiers who raided President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's seaside hotel during the failed coup.

Anadolu Agency says the two were captured early Monday near the Aegean resort of Marmaris, bringing the number of suspects caught in the operation that began late Sunday to 11.  

One suspect is still on the run.

Erdogan had been on vacation during the July 15 coup. The soldiers raided his hotel in an attempt to capture or kill the president but are believed to have missed him by an hour or less.

The government accuses US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the coup.

Gulen denies any knowledge of the attempt to overthrow the government.

Turkey summoned a senior German diplomat on Monday after a rally in Cologne in support of the Turkish president who was not permitted to address the crowd by video conference
German diplomat summoned

Turkey summoned a senior German diplomat Monday, the embassy said, a day after a rally in Cologne in support of the Turkish president who was not permitted to address the crowd by video conference.

"The charge d'affaires has been summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry at 1:00 pm (1000 GMT)," a spokeswoman for the German embassy told AFP, adding that the ambassador was not in town.

Tens of thousands of supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallied in Cologne Sunday to show their opposition to a failed coup on July 15, which aimed to unseat the Turkish leader.

Hours before the demonstration, Germany's constitutional court banned an application to show live speeches from Turkey by politicians including Erdogan, amid fears they could work the crowd up further.

The decision sparked anger in Turkey, with presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin calling the ban unacceptable and a "violation of the freedom of expression and the right to free assembly".

Germany is home to three million ethnic Turks, making up Turkey's largest diaspora, and tensions over the coup have put authorities there on edge.

The tension comes at a time when relations between Germany and Turkey are already strained over the German parliament's decision to brand as genocide the World War I-era Armenian massacre by Ottoman forces.