Turkish police detain pro-coup pilot

By Muhammed Enes Can, Murat Kaya Istanbul and Yunus Ege

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish police on Wednesday detained an air force pilot, who allegedly ordered the deadly attack against civilians on Istanbul’s Bosphorus Bridge during the July 15 coup attempt.

Ozcan Korhan’s detention is part of an investigation by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office into the deadly coup attempt, for which the Gulenist movement or "Parallel State" (FETO/PDY) is held responsible.

According to a testimony by Kerime Yildirim, a female pilot who flew an F-16 in Istanbul during the night of the coup, Korhan had been known as the Gulenist group's "'Imam' in the air forces".

Yildirim also admitted that she took a group of soldiers to the state broadcaster TRT's building in Istanbul's Harbiye district on the coup night.

Turkey went through a deadly coup attempt on July 15, when rogue elements of the military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the failed coup, which martyred at least 246 and wounded more than 2,100 people.

The country accuses U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his FETO organization of being behind the attempted coup and has called for his extradition to Turkey to face trial.