Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) formed a special unit and gave its members training on Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles three months before the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, according to a report that raises new questions about the agency’s undisclosed preparations before the violence.
The report by 15 Temmuz Gerçekleri claims the team was being prepared for an assignment scheduled for July 25, 2016, 10 days after the coup attempt.
The training reportedly took place at MİT’s Çamlıdere facility near Ankara.
One of those trained was said to be the son of a Turkish ambassador who was later assigned abroad.
The identities of the other personnel, the reason the unit was created and the nature of the planned July 25 assignment have not been made public.
If accurate the claim would show that MİT had assembled a hand-picked team capable of operating anti-aircraft weapons shortly before warplanes and military helicopters became central to the events of July 15.
It would also raise questions about where the unit was deployed during the coup attempt, whether its members were stationed at MİT facilities and whether they took part in armed operations that night.
MİT has never publicly explained whether such a unit existed, who selected its members or why missile training was reportedly organized shortly before July 15.
The absence of answers adds to doubts surrounding the intelligence agency’s role before and during the coup attempt, including why it failed to warn President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after receiving a military tip earlier that day and why its senior officials were shielded from direct questioning by parliament.
