Turkey detains almost 300 presidential guards: official

ANKARA: Turkey detained 283 members of the presidential guard of Recep Tayyip Erdogan after last week´s attempted coup, a government official said Friday.

The guard are members of the Special Forces regiment stationed at the presidential palace in Ankara. There are at least 2,500 members, according to local media.

The authorities issued arrest warrants for 300 members in total, broadcaster CNN-Turk said. The channel said that those detained were in Ankara.

Meanwhile, the Turkish government has cancelled 10,856 passports "due to flight risk -- including close to 10,000 green/grey (official) passports", with the holders either in custody or on the run, the official said, confirming comments by Interior Minister Efkan Ala on CNN-Turk.

Green passport holders include civil servants and former MPs who can travel to some countries visa-free, while grey passports are issued to others working on government business as well as athletes.

Erdogan said on Thursday 10,410 people had so far been detained with 4,060 of them remanded in custody, including more than 100 generals and admirals.