A prosecutor in eastern Turkey, who had been suspended under the coup investigation, was detained as he tried to cross the border into Syria on Sunday, August 14 night, a Turkish government official said, according to Reuters.

He said Ekrem Beyaztas, chief prosecutor in Erzurum province, was detained by border guards in Kilis province. There was a warrant for his detention.

"Our initial assessment is that he was trying to reach PYD-controlled parts of northern Syria in an attempt to seek protection," the official said.

Ankara regards the PYD, the main Syrian Kurdish party, as a terrorist group due to its links to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a three-decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state.

"In recent weeks, runaway coup plotters have been trying to leave Turkey via routes traditionally used by the PKK to smuggle militants and weapons in and out of the country," he said.