A BRIT couple has claimed three men tried to kidnap their two-year-old daughter at a holiday resort in Turkey.
Sophie Dawes and her partner Dean Cremin were enjoying drinks at the bar with other guests at the hotel in Alanya, Antalya, when their dream family getaway turned into a nightmare.
The pair said they were on the second night of their holiday with their tot daughter Evie and their two sons, aged five and eight, when the alledged drama unfolded.
Sophie said the little Evie was sitting on a chair using watching something on her phone when two "large, burly" men came over and "started trouble".
In a social media post, she wrote: "When all this was happening I turned around to see a third man put a towel over Evie's head and picked her up and started running off."
The mum said Evie was thankfully saved by a group of German tourists, who hid with the tot in a bush until the commotion died down.
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Evie's dad Dean told Irish radio station RTE: "I didn't know where she (Evie) was- I was screaming and shouting when I saw two German girls come out of a bush who had actually taken my daughter and hid her away from it all with my other son who is five."
But Dean said the horror didn't end there, as the men made another grab for Evie as she got into a lift with the couple's holiday pals, Phil and Elaine Brady.
Dean added: "We ran straight into the lift and as the doors were about to close, the men saw us and ran over again and tried to pull me out while I was holding my two-year-old to drag me out.
“They tried to get her (Evie) again but obviously I was just holding my own. When the doors were closing, he tried to grab her leg.
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"The only thing I can think of (why they focused on Evie) she's a two-year-old with really long blonde hair and blue eyes."
Sophie said the ordeal was the "worst night of our life" as she warned other holidaymakers about the incident on Facebook.
She added: "I can't thank the group of German men and women who saw it happen and managed to get Evie off the man and hide with her in a bush.
"One more minute he had Evie we wouldn't ever be able to hold her again. There are so many witnesses to what happened it's actually terrifying."
Phil and Elaine, who the couple met while on their family holiday, said the men also tried to "grab" their kids, reports The Irish Sun.
Elaine, from Dublin, told the Liveline show: "Two men came out of nowhere, big, tall, burly men. We were aware of them just standing behind us and everything basically changed.
"They got down into my face and told me to 'shut the f*** up'. Phil walked over and said 'is there a problem' and then in that moment everything changed. The two men attacked Phil, it was horrendous.
"Another man came out of nowhere and was trying to pick up one of the other children and put a towel over her head. They tried to pick her up and run.
“It was just madness, it was pure and sheer and utter panic. There were punches thrown, people were being pushed around and we just tried to get back into the hotel."
Elaine said as the family scrambled towards the lobby after Phil broke free from the men, one of them tried to again attack her husband.
She added: "We got to the lift, my two children were clutched onto my arm. My poor kids were terrified.
'MOST HARROWING EXPERIENCE EVER'
"They did not relent. They were beating the c**p of out Phil, they were trying to drag Phil out of the lift but he was gripped onto the lift.
"My daughter kicked one of the men, she grabbed her brother, and the two of them ran into the toilet. My son dialed 911 and they were on the call with the operator for six minutes and 25 seconds trying to explain where we were.
"It was the most harrowing experience we've ever had."
Phil likened the ordeal to a scene out of the Liam Neeson film Taken.
He said: “When the police did come I was taken out of the lift, my hands put behind my back and put face down on the floor.
“Something was put to the back of my head, I don’t know if it was a gun or not but I was convinced I was behind held at gunpoint.
“It was honestly like something from Taken."
Elaine said she contacted the Irish Embassy in Turkey and was told the incident had not been reported by the hotel.
She said it is now being investigated by cops in Ireland.
It's understood the coastal hotel has dismissed the claims.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, the resort instead bizarrely claimed the guests had been rowdy and one had attacked a security guard, adding that the hotel "takes such allegations extremely seriously", reports Travel Gossip.
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The post added: "We will bring to administrative and criminal liability all persons involved in the dissemination of deliberately false information and all persons responsible for causing economic and reputational damage to our hotel."
Police in Alanya and the hotel have been contacted by The Sun for a response.
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