Former Air Force Commander Gen. Akın Öztürk, one of the main defendants in the Akıncı Air Base trial over Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt, told the court that he first understood the events were a coup attempt from the words of then-Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar.
Ankara says the coup attempt was organized by military officers affiliated with the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen. The movement denies involvement.
Öztürk says Akar defended him to prime minister
During cross-examination, Öztürk said he overheard Akar telling then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and others at a meeting that Öztürk had tried to help him.
Öztürk said Mehmet Dişli, another officer accused in the case, should be questioned as a witness because Dişli accompanied Akar to the Çankaya Presidential Mansion in Ankara after leaving Akıncı.
“I know that Mehmet Dişli, who went to the Çankaya Mansion with Akar that day, called the Eskişehir operations center five to 10 times for the helicopter carrying Yaşar Güler and myself to take off,” Öztürk said. “I heard Akar telling the prime minister and those in the meeting, ‘What are you saying, come on,’ explaining that I was trying to help him. General Dişli is the witness, ask him.”
Öztürk said he did not know how the helicopter that took Akar to the Çankaya Mansion had been arranged and suggested Dişli might know more.
‘I was in civilian clothes’
Öztürk said he arrived at Akıncı around 12:15 a.m. in civilian clothes and later put on a tight uniform that did not fit him. He said he became aware of the coup attempt through Akar’s words, although he also said his orderly had informed him about events around 9:30 p.m.
Asked by a defense lawyer whether he had told a dentist lieutenant during treatment that he might appear frequently on television the following month, Öztürk denied making such a statement.
“Give me a witness and a location,” he said. “Which dentist? I have no idea.”
Öztürk said he had only received dental treatment at the Turkish Air Force Command infirmary.
He said the first person he encountered after entering Akıncı was base commander Kubilay Selçuk, followed by Akar. He said he spoke with some generals only to persuade them, acting on Akar’s orders.
Questions over how Akar boarded the helicopter
Öztürk was also asked about Akar’s condition at Akıncı and how he later boarded a helicopter flown by personnel accused of participating in the coup attempt.
Öztürk said he did not know whether Akar had handcuff marks. He said that when Akar showed him a scratch on his neck, Akar told him, “It happened when I resisted.”
A lawyer asked how Akar boarded the helicopter of Uğur Kapan, who was accused of bombing targets during the night, and whether Akar was not worried or was certain nothing would happen to him.
“I have no idea,” Öztürk replied. “Perhaps General Dişli knows better.”
Asked why Akar had not backed his account even after 400 days, Öztürk said circumstances can change over time and pointed to Air Force Commander Gen. Abidin Ünal, saying Ünal had also changed his statements later.
Öztürk says Akar was treated as commander at Akıncı
Öztürk said everyone at Akıncı continued to treat Akar with respect as chief of General Staff.
“No one displayed an attitude of, ‘We staged a coup, let us disrespect the commander,’” he said. “Everyone continued to treat Hulusi Akar like a commander.”
Öztürk said Akar had the opportunity to make phone calls at any time and did not attempt to go to the squadrons.
The lawyer for co-defendant Ömer Faruk Harmancık asked whether the hierarchical relationship continued when Harmancık and others came to Akar, or whether there was an atmosphere suggesting that they held power.
“Their military attitude and behavior did not deviate by a millimeter,” Öztürk said. “They did not step outside superior-subordinate relationships.”
‘There is no difference between Abidin Ünal and me’
Another lawyer asked why Öztürk was being accused because he allegedly moved around freely at Akıncı while Abidin Ünal, who also appeared to move comfortably at the base, was not on trial in the same way.
“It is a huge contradiction,” Öztürk said. “There is no difference between us. Furthermore, I did not walk around comfortably with my hands in my pockets. I was very anxious.”
Öztürk said the same accusation directed at him could also be directed at Ünal.
“Bombs will fall on the police and gendarmerie, and I will be comfortable,” he said. “May God not put anyone in such a situation. Therefore, these accusations against me are wrong.”
Asked why Ünal and Akar did not do more to persuade the putschists, Öztürk replied, “Perhaps they were afraid they might do something.”
Court shown footage of Ünal and Güler
The court then watched footage showing Air Force Commander Abidin Ünal walking in a corridor at the base with a soldier behind him. The court also saw images of then-Deputy Chief of General Staff Yaşar Güler blindfolded, with soldiers holding his arms.
Asked to compare the footage and assess their victimization, Öztürk said taking a chief of General Staff away would be the “ultimate form of internment,” regardless of how it was done.
“Whether you carry him in your arms or take him at gunpoint,” he said. “It is the first time I am seeing Abidin Pasha’s footage. It is obvious his footage is not like theirs. I do not want to comment.”
Öztürk says he feared for his life
Öztürk was also asked how he was appointed to the Supreme Military Council, Turkey’s top military promotions body.
“The president and the prime minister decided, saying, ‘We have decided to make Abidin Ünal the Air Force commander,’ and thus decided on my Supreme Military Council membership,” he said. “I saluted and respected this decision.”
A lawyer asked whether Öztürk considered shooting people he could not persuade in order to stop the putschists.
“No,” Öztürk said. “How can you say I did not fear for my life? It was not clear who was a putschist and who was not. My first priority was to take the orders of the chief of General Staff. I did what his orders required. I went and talked to the putschist individuals. I could not just throw myself in front of the planes.”
Asked whether he would still be in court if he had shot everyone he believed was involved, Öztürk said that was impossible.
“I would be dead,” he said.
Öztürk also said he agreed with Special Forces Commander Zekai Aksakallı, who stated that if the command echelon had ordered troops not to leave their barracks, the attempt could not have happened.
His testimony adds to a central unresolved question in the Akıncı case: whether the events at the base reflected a command structure led by the defendants, as prosecutors alleged, or a confused and contradictory chain of events in which senior commanders later avoided scrutiny while others were placed at the center of the case.
