The wife of former Maj. Fatih Şahin, a defendant in a trial concerning the Special Forces Command’s alleged role in Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt, has raised questions about the case, claiming that messages on the phone of Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, who was killed that night, were altered after the incident.
The allegation, if confirmed, could raise questions about possible evidence tampering in one of the trials related to the failed coup.
One of the questions concerns messages found on Terzi’s phone. According to the claim, the phone records and message contents were altered through external interference on July 20 and July 29, 2016, before arrests were made in the case.
According to questions relayed by journalist Saygı Öztürk in his column, Şahin’s wife asked the following:
1. Why was the 12th Battalion urgently deployed to the southeastern city of Diyarbakır on July 14, 2016?
2. Despite sensing an anomaly starting at 4 p.m. during a meeting at General Staff headquarters, why did commanders go to a wedding instead of going to Special Forces Command headquarters?
3. It was known that Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi would travel to Ankara that day. Until 12:05 a.m., when Terzi departed, why was no personnel ordered to prevent him from leaving Diyarbakır, detain him or take similar action, and why was he not stopped from boarding the plane?
4. Why did the commander, who testified that he was suspicious of Terzi’s movements before Terzi left Diyarbakır, fail to inform anyone or call Special Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Zekai Aksakallı until 1:26 a.m. despite those suspicions?
5. According to police reports cited in the questions, changes were made to Terzi’s phone records and message contents on July 20 and July 29. Who made those changes, and are the messages attributed to Terzi still reliable as evidence?
