Fourteen Turkish navy ships remained at sea and unaccounted for last night amid concerns that their commanders may be coup conspirators seeking to defect.

Admiral Veysel Kosele, the commander of the Turkish navy, has been out of contact since Friday night’s botched coup, a source confirmed. It is not known whether he was an instigator of the attempt to oust President Erdogan or is being held hostage by collaborators on the run.

Last night the president said that he was almost assassinated when the resort in southwest Turkey where he was staying was stormed and two of his bodyguards killed.

“Had I stayed 10, 15 additional minutes, I would have been killed or I would have been taken,” he told CNN. He added that renegade