07.08.2026 12:31
During the July 15 coup attempt, FETÖ member Burkay Karatepe, who was part of the assassination team targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and had been sought with a red notice for 10 years, was captured and arrested. As a confessor, based on Karatepe's statements, a large-scale search operation was launched for weapons and ammunition allegedly buried along the escape route in Marmaris.
The 10-year flight of Burkay Karatepe, a fugitive FETÖ member involved in the assassination attempt against President Erdoğan in Marmaris, has come to an end. Karatepe, who was captured while sought with a red notice and subsequently arrested, stated during his processing at the police station that he wished to benefit from the provisions of effective remorse. Interrogated for four days at the counter-terrorism branch, Karatepe recounted in detail the events leading up to the coup attempt and gave a total of 69 pages of testimony.
HE POINTED OUT THE LOCATION OF BURIED WEAPONS
In his comprehensive statement, Karatepe confessed to burying long-barreled rifles, pistols, and ammunition at certain points in Marmaris's Armutalan and İçmeler neighborhoods, which they used as escape routes after the assassination attempt. Following this critical declaration, the judicial authorities decided to conduct a location showing procedure in the region under the supervision of the public prosecutor. An operation was launched by security forces along the routes described by the suspect, which he stated they used to obtain supplies during their escape.
EXTENSIVE SEARCH AND SCANNING ACTIVITY IN THE REGION
Numerous expert personnel were deployed for the search and scanning efforts carried out with great meticulousness in the forested and rural areas where the weapons and ammunition were assessed to be possibly located.
In addition to the ongoing search and scanning activities, the forensic process has also been accelerated to definitively establish the connection between Karatepe and weapons previously seized in the region since the coup attempt. It was reported that detailed DNA comparison and matching studies have been initiated on blood and hair samples taken from the suspect.