Turkey to disband presidential guard: PM Yildirim

The Turkish authorities are set to disband the elite presidential guard after detaining almost 300 of its members in the wake of the failed coup, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has said. 

“There will no longer be a presidential guard, there is no purpose, there is no need,” Yildirim said, speaking to A Haber channel. 

The presidential guard is a regiment numbering up to 2,500 people but at least 283 of its members had been detained after the coup. 

Turkey also detained a senior aide to the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen whom it blames for the coup attempt aimed at ousting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an official said on Saturday. 

Security forces detained Hails Hanci in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, the official said, describing Hanci as a “right-hand man” of Gulen and responsible for transferring funds to him. 

Gulen denies being behind the failed coup. 

The official said Hanci “apparently” entered the country two days before the attempted putsch that erupted late on July 15.