A WORCESTER father narrowly avoided an airport attack in Turkey on July 15, departing an hour before the army arrived.

Omer Tekaegaec, from Blackpole, left Ataturk airport just before it was surrounded as part of an attempted coup, his brother said.

Mr Tekaegaec arrived in Istanbul at 5pm Turkish time and at 9.30pm took a flight to the south eastern city of Gaziantep.

The army seized the airport at 10.30pm and cancelled all flights, according Mr Tekaegaec’s brother.

Ismail Tekaegaec, Mr Tekaegaec’s brother, said: “When I heard the news about the coup, my first thought was shock.

“I took out my phone and called my brother but found it didn’t work, I was scared.

“I then rang my other brother who was waiting for him at Gaziantep airport and he told me his flight had not been delayed.

“Luckily Omer was on the flight when the airport was attacked.

“When he landed we spoke and he was in shock. He told me they knew nothing about it during the flight.”

The pilot of the flight told the passengers about the coup after the plane reached Gaziantep, causing some passengers to cry.

Ismail Tekaegaec, who owns Worcester Kebab & Pizza House, said: “I’m very happy my brother is safe. I couldn’t sleep last night from the panic, I went to bed at 9am this morning.

“I’m happy he is safe but I’m also unhappy at the same time because people have died. It’s a mixed feeling.”

Omer Tekaegaec, 31, was on the flight with his wife and three girls as part of a trip to visit their relatives in Gaziantep.

Suleyman Tekaegaec, Mr Tekaegaec’s other brother, is undeterred about his planned flight to Turkey on July 16.

Turkish Airlines has not cancelled the flight and five other families from Bromsgrove are set to make the trip.

The attempted coup which started on July 15 has now been defeated, according to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ismail Tekaegaec, who is also the Worcester branch leader of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, said he welcomed the coup's defeat.

“I called many people in Turkey last night and everyone was in the streets. The whole of Turkey didn’t sleep last night,” he said.

“People like Erdogan and the government. This was an attack on democracy which was organised from Pennsylvania by the Gulen movement.”

Ismail Takaegaec, from St Peter’s, said flights to Ataturk airport were cancelled on July 15, but resumed on the morning of July 16.