In a recent development following Turkey’s 2016 coup attempt, the release of Captain Burak Akın and two other officers—Captains Fuat Söylemez and Abdülkadir Koçyiğit—has sparked new debates. Journalist Ahmet Dönmez analyzes these cases, highlighting that these allegedly Gülen-affiliated officers either fought against the coup, were not involved, or were completely unaware of it. This analysis is crucial as it questions the official narrative regarding who actually orchestrated the uprising, given that key alleged movement members were sidelined during the attempt.
Meanwhile, something important happened. Captain Burak Akın was released yesterday. Following his testimony, two other captains who were detained, Fuat Söylemez and Abdülkadir Koçyiğit, were also released in the same way. Let the answer to the question of why he surrendered continue to hang in uncertainty; the truth will certainly come out in the coming days.
****
Before continuing from where I left off, I want to open a parenthesis. In its headline news yesterday titled ‘What is happening in the judiciary?’, the pro-government media outlet Yeni Şafak stated: ‘The opportunist gang within the judiciary is causing victimization by arresting people who stood by the state after the December 17-25, 2013 corruption investigations, despite there being no evidence showing their connection to the organization.’
From here, I will bring the subject to Captain Burak Akın. Even if he had not gone and surrendered himself, and had been detained due to an existing confidential investigation about him, he is a profile about whom people would say, ‘This is how the fight against the Gülen movement is being diluted.’ He is an officer about whom articles would be written saying, ‘To detain a brave soldier who fought heroically on the night of the 2016 coup attempt, was shot by the coup plotters, and narrowly escaped death in front of everyone, as a movement member could only be a decision taken by crypto-movement members within the judiciary to dilute the struggle.’
Yes, while his hand is so strong from a perceptual point of view, he must really have been committing a massive crime at the time to panic and run to turn himself in. In other words, he must be caught red-handed in a crime that would destroy this positive perception… Well, is there such a situation? It has not emerged so far. On the contrary, even the pro-government media is broadcasting, ‘Everyone is wondering the answer to this question.’ In other words, no one has been able to understand why Captain Akın surrendered.
****
After this parenthesis, we can continue from where we left off…
Let us come to the other 2 officers detained based on Burak Akın’s statements…
Those names are Special Forces Command Captains Fuat Söylemez and Abdülkadir Koçyiğit. According to Sabah newspaper’s report, both are Akın’s classmates and were in the same group within the movement. Last Friday, Fuat Söylemez was also brought to the Ankara Courthouse along with Burak Akın. And Söylemez’s testimony is also quite explosive: ‘I joined this organization at a young age with religious feelings. My treason to the homeland is out of the question. I was not aware of the coup attempt. I was in Silopi on the night of the incident.’
Look, these are short but very, very important sentences. Söylemez says he entered the movement at a young age. So he is one of the old ones. A senior ‘long-term movement follower.’ But he is also unaware of the coup attempt. Even if he were, what would it matter, he did not even come to Ankara. He was in Silopi that night. Where is Silopi? The unit where the coup plotter Major General Semih Terzi, who was shot in the back and killed during the coup attempt, served. So, the ‘movement member’ Semih Terzi leaves Silopi and comes to Ankara that night to stage a coup, and he does not bring Captain Söylemez, who has been in the movement since childhood, with him. Who does he go to Ankara with instead? With soldiers like Captain Ahmet Kemal Yılmaz and First Lieutenant Mihrali Atmaca, whom he hardly knows, almost all of whom would cross to the other side that night and act under the orders of Zekai Aksakallı, the Commander of the Special Forces!…
Alright, but why?
****
Let us come to Abdülkadir Koçyiğit…
Koçyiğit is among the defendants of the Military Academy trial concerning the 2016 coup attempt. But pay attention to this detail: According to Milliyet’s report, Koçyiğit, who was arrested on July 27, 2016, was released on August 1, 2016. That means, if there is no mistake in the report, he remained under arrest for only and only 5 days. And this release happens under the heavy psychological conditions immediately following the coup attempt!.. In those days, a captain from the Special Forces Command is going to be arrested and released 5 days later, is that so? Is this normal?
At that time, even those who wanted to benefit from the effective repentance law from within the military could not make their voices heard? How was Koçyiğit released? He is currently standing trial without arrest, facing three consecutive life sentences and the charge of ‘membership in an armed terrorist organization.’
So, what testimony did he give when he was first detained after the coup? According to the same report, Koçyiğit was also a student at the Defense Sciences Institute at the Military Academy. On the day of the coup attempt, he left the school around 19:00 due to his thesis work. While he was studying at home around 22:00, he heard jet noises. He immediately turned on the television. He saw that the Bosphorus Bridge was closed by soldiers due to a terror threat. Around 23:43, Instructor Colonel Ertan Erol from the Military Academy called him on the phone and said, ‘There is an alarm situation, you need to come to the barracks immediately. Also, pass this message of mine to the graduate students.’ Upon this, Koçyiğit conveyed Erol’s order to the other trainees. They arrived at the institute around 01:00 in the vehicle of Captain Ali Kıratlı and Captain Yunus Emre Toprak, who lived in the same housing complex. There they saw their registry superiors, Colonels Ertan Erol, Önder Haluk Tekbaş, and Metin Gülenç. Ertan Erol ordered them to put on their training uniforms and wait in the institute’s lecture hall.
Around 03:30, they were ordered to take weapons for barracks security by Professor Dr. Engineer Colonel Önder Haluk Tekbaş, who was also the Director of the Defense Sciences Institute. They moved to the Anafartalar battalion. About 1 hour later, around 04:30, everyone was distributed one HK-33 infantry rifle and an empty magazine. Half an hour later, they also received assault vests.
Colonel Tekbaş ordered them to go to the dean’s building and wait. When they asked the commander what the situation was, Tekbaş replied, ‘We are on standby.’
In the indictment, however, it is alleged that Koçyiğit came to take part in the coup activities upon the instruction of Chief of Staff Colonel İlhami Polat, who organized the actions carried out within the Military Academy. As the crime, it is shown that Koçyiğit received the weapon randomly assigned to him to resist civilians, police, and anti-coup soldiers who would come from the outside during the transfers directed at the Military Academy. It is explained that he committed the crime of ‘starting to wait to fulfill duties such as going to the guardhouses as a reinforcement force and keeping guard,’ which would be given by his commanders.
This is another ‘crypto movement member’ officer named by Burak Akın. As can be seen, he is a Student Captain who got up from his home and came to school after 23:00 with his commander’s order while studying that night, and who was handed a weapon with an empty magazine at 04:30 in the morning after the coup was suppressed. Just like the hundreds of soldiers who were called to their units by phone and arrested despite being on leave, on holiday, or at home that night…
****
Meanwhile, another detail is about Yunus Can, the aide-de-camp of the then-Commander of the Land Forces Salih Zeki Çolak, with whom Burak Akın served together. On the evening of the coup attempt, as the protection director, Akın, and as the aide-de-camp, Can, did their best for the safety of the Land Forces Commander. While Akın was lying shot in the leg, Yunus Can was also detained together with Çolak that night and locked up in Akıncı Base. He is also among the complainants in the Akıncı Base trial. At the same time, he appears as a ‘victim’ in the General Staff Umbrella Trial and the Army Aviation School Trial. However, 6 months after the coup attempt, ‘it was understood that he was a movement member,’ and he was also arrested within the framework of the Land Forces Command Covert Imams investigation.
This expression belongs to Yeni Şafak. Following Burak Akın’s surrender, Yeni Şafak published a news report titled ‘The fake heroes of the 2016 coup attempt.’ One of the names mentioned in this report was Yunus Can. According to the claim, Can was serving in the covert services unit of the movement at the Land Forces Command. He was engaging in organizational activities under the code name ‘Yavuz.’ He had given a joint signal with the alleged Turkish Armed Forces imam Adil Öksüz at the same base station twice.
Yunus Can, after remaining under arrest for about 1 year, was released on December 29, 2017, meaning 2 days after Burak Akın surrendered to the police.
In his defense, stating that he was detained because there was an ‘informant’ testimony about him, he rejected all the allegations against him. Can, who also revealed the contradictions in this informant testimony, stated that Salih Zeki Çolak personally selected him for this duty, that he did not give permission when he wanted to retire, and that he had gone abroad and returned twice since the 2016 coup attempt.
***
In this situation, we have some officers who are alleged to be from the movement or some who have personally confessed to it themselves. But interestingly, these names are soldiers who either acted heroically on the night of the coup attempt, were never preferred by the coup plotters, or did not participate in any crime despite being called by their commanders while sitting at home. And the worst part is, none of them were aware of the coup attempt. But they are all accused of being ‘from the movement.’
In this case, the question is this: Who carried out this coup? If so many movement-affiliated officers did not participate in the coup, who were the ones in the field? Or, if the movement attempted a coup, why did it keep its critical men out of the matter?
The questions do not end here.
I will continue with other details…
AHMET DÖNMEZ / TR724
