AKP deputy describes attack on Erdoğan’s hotel during failed coup attempt

AKP Muğla deputy Nihat Öztürk said Erdoğan took off from his hotel in Marmaris between 12.15 and 12:30 a.m. on July 16.

“The president departed from Marmaris and landed in Dalaman [also in Muğla]. But there is an air base and a naval base in Dalaman and the coup plotters were there, so he landed with his lights turned off. His plane then took off from there with the lights turned off and landed in Istanbul in the same way,” Öztürk told state-run Anadolu Agency on July 21.

“The fact that the coup plotting soldiers had waited for a while in the nearby Okluk Bay saved us time in terms of getting our president out of there,” he added. 

Saying that he went to Erdoğan’s hotel at around 9.45 p.m. after learning there was an “unusual situation” going on, Öztürk noted that Erdoğan requested citizens to hit the streets to resist the coup attempt.

“The president told me that he wanted people to be in the squares. We then ensured that the people came to the front of the hotel rather than the squares. Our friends then started to show up after half an hour,” he added. 

During his interview, Öztürk said Erdoğan “never considered going to the Greek island of Rhodes,” despite it being only around 15 minutes from his hotel.

“We didn’t even talk about going there. He didn’t say, ‘I could go to Rhodes and be safe.’ I’m proud of myself for doing politics with this kind of leader,” he added.