Former Lieutenant Colonel Mehmet Şahin claimed in court that when Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar was allegedly being taken hostage to Akıncı Base by helicopter, Akar asked the pilot, “Why didn’t you come on time?”
“IF HE WAS CAPTURED, WHY ASK FOR HIS CONSENT?”
This claim adds to previous testimonies questioning whether Akar was held by force. Former Colonel Doğan Öztürk recently testified that Akar’s aide requested a helicopter because “the Commander wants to go to Akıncı.” Öztürk noted that the helicopter waited 10 minutes because Akar was not ready, arguing, “If they were forcibly capturing the Chief of General Staff, they wouldn’t wait for him or ask for his consent.”
Şahin’s testimony revealed that one of the pilots who flew Akar that night was Uğur Kapan. Notably, Kapan is the same pilot who safely flew Akar to the Prime Ministry the next morning after the coup failed.
QUESTIONS OVER THE COMMANDER’S ACTIONS
The author argues that Akar’s decision to fly again with the same pilot who allegedly kidnapped him the night before raises questions about the official account.
In a statement to prosecutors in October 2016, pilot Uğur Kapan stated, “The person who instructed me to return to Akıncı after dropping off our Chief of General Staff… was the Chief of General Staff himself.”
According to defendant Şahin, when Akar boarded the helicopter on the night of the coup, he leaned into pilot Kapan’s ear and asked why they were late. This allegation continues to cast doubt on the events at the military headquarters that night.
