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Coup plotters wanted former air force commander as president, claim Turkish officials

August 11, 2016 at 11:51 am

The leaders of July’s failed coup attempt in Turkey planned to appoint former Air Force Commander General Akin Ozturk as president, sources within the public prosecutor’s office have revealed.

The prosecutor apparently reached this conclusion during the course of the investigation into the coup, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Ozturk was arrested on 16 July at Ekinci Air Base near Ankara on suspicion of having links to the attempted military takeover. Although the authorities accuse the senior member of the Supreme Military Council of planning the coup, Ozturk denies the charges.