Ankara- The chief military adviser to the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan, Ali Yazici, was arrested on charges of involvement in an attempted coup.

Col. Yazici is one of the most senior military officers to be targeted in a government purge of the military following Friday’s failed coup attempt.

His arrest followed the issuance of an arrest warrant by Turkish authorities.

Yazici was assigned as advisor to Erdogan on August 12, 2015, one year after Erdogan has become the President of Turkey on the 10th of August 2014.

“CNN Turk” news channel mentioned that “Yazici was in Ankara when the coup was carried out meanwhile Erdogan was in vacation at the seaside resort of Marmaris.”

In the meantime, Akin Ozturk, who is an alleged leader of the military coup attempt in Turkey and the former commander of the country’s air force, was also detained and brought to Counter Terrorism Unit in Ankara for questioning, but he denied all charges against him.

Several other top commanders involved in the coup attempt were also detained in operations throughout the country. The commander of the 2nd Army Gen. Adem Huduti and its executive officer and Malatya Garrison Commander Avni Angun and the commander of the 3rd Army Gen. Erdal Öztürk were detained in the operations.

Turkish authorities have intensified arresting soldiers and judges following the coup, which Erdogan accused his former ally Fethullah Gulen of scheming.

At least 6,000 people have been detained in Turkey in relation to the failed coup, with more detentions expected, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on national television.

For his part, Erdogan said he was still president and Turkey’s commander in chief, promising that plotters would pay a “very heavy price.”

“This uprising is a gift from God to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army,” Erdogan stated earlier on Friday night, addressing a large and desperate crowd of his supporters.