×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Monday
15
Dec 2025
weather symbol
Athens 10°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> World

Two F-16 jets targeted Erdogan plane during coup, reports Reuters

For unknown reasons they did not fire

Newsroom July 18 08:16

According to Reuters news agency, two rebel F-16 fighter jets had locked onto the plane carrying Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan back to Istanbul at the height of the attempt by a faction of the military to overthrow his government. From Reuters:

At the height of the attempt to overthrow Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, the rebel pilots of two F-16 fighter jets had Erdogan’s plane in their sights. And yet he was able to fly on.
The Turkish leader was returning to Istanbul from a holiday near the coastal resort of Marmaris after a faction in the military launched the coup attempt on Friday night, sealing off a bridge across the Bosphorus, trying to capture Istanbul’s main airport and sending tanks to parliament in Ankara.
“At least two F-16s harassed Erdogan’s plane while it was in the air and en route to Istanbul. They locked their radars on his plane and on two other F-16s protecting him,” a former military officer with knowledge of the events told Reuters.
“Why they didn’t fire is a mystery,” he said.
A successful overthrow of Erdogan, who has ruled the country of about 80 million people since 2003, could have sent Turkey spiraling into conflict and marked another seismic shift in the Middle East, five years after the Arab uprisings erupted and plunged its southern neighbor Syria into civil war.
A senior Turkish official confirmed to Reuters that Erdogan’s business jet had been harassed while flying from the airport that serves Marmaris by two F-16s commandeered by the coup plotters but that he had managed to reach Istanbul safely.
A second senior official also said the presidential jet had been “in trouble in the air” but gave no details.
Erdogan said as the coup unfolded that the plotters had tried to attack him in the resort town of Marmaris and had bombed places he had been at shortly after he left. He “evaded death by minutes”, the second official said.
Around 25 soldiers in helicopters descended on a hotel in Marmaris on ropes, shooting, just after Erdogan had left in an apparent attempt to seize him, broadcaster CNN Turk said.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim had also been directly targeted in Istanbul during the coup bid and had narrowly escaped, the official said, without giving details.
Flight tracker websites showed a Gulfstream IV aircraft, a type of business jet owned by the Turkish government, take off from Dalaman airport, which is about an hour and a quarter’s drive from Marmaris, at about 2240 GMT on Friday. Gunfire and explosions rocked both Istanbul and Ankara through Friday night, as the armed faction which tried to seize power strafed the headquarters of Turkish intelligence and parliament in the capital. At one point it ordered state television to read out a statement declaring a nationwide curfew.
But the attempt crumbled as forces loyal to Erdogan pushed the rebels back and as the Turkish leader, at one point appearing on broadcaster CNN Turk in a video call from a mobile phone, urged people to take to the streets to support him.
More than 290 people were killed in the violence, 104 of them coup supporters, the rest largely civilians and police officers.

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

> More World

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

How “Albanian” was Georgios Kastriotis or Skanderbeg, what does the domed tomb at the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos hide?

December 14, 2025

See all the farmers’ demands to the government: They do not want OPEKEPE’s control to be transferred to AADE

December 14, 2025

Mitsotakis to farmers: Dialogue cannot take place with ultimatums – Roadblocks undermine your struggle – We are examining a new support package

December 14, 2025

Shooting in Sydney: Gunfire by two unknown individuals at a Jewish celebration on a beach, reports of casualties (videos)

December 14, 2025

Shops are open today, the market is open during festive hours

December 14, 2025

Sunday Sports Broadcasts: Where to watch the tests of the Super League’s Big Four

December 14, 2025

Moments of terror at Brown University after the shootings: Police evacuated students who had hidden

December 14, 2025

The redevelopment of Ellinikon prioritizes the extension of the Metro toward Glyfada – New extensions to follow

December 14, 2025
All News

> World

Shooting in Sydney: Gunfire by two unknown individuals at a Jewish celebration on a beach, reports of casualties (videos)

Information indicates two arrests and 13 injured, with reports of at least 30 shots fired – About 2,000 people were gathered on the beach for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah – Israeli President Herzog condemns the attack in strong terms

December 14, 2025

Moments of terror at Brown University after the shootings: Police evacuated students who had hidden

December 14, 2025

Shooting at Brown University: Ongoing incident, suspect sought

December 13, 2025

The moment a Russian drone strikes a Turkish ship in the port of Odesa – Watch video

December 12, 2025

The “crypto king” Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison for $40 billion fraud

December 12, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα