Aytun Çıray, a lawmaker from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of obstructing the parliamentary investigation into Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt, saying key witnesses were being kept away from the commission.
“It seems that the commission’s duty will end without listening to many witnesses who would ensure that the 2016 coup attempt is truly brought to light,” Çıray said. “The ruling party is covering up the events of that night.”
His remarks came after Reşat Petek, an AKP deputy and chair of the parliamentary coup investigation commission, gave a presentation about a commission visit to Marmaris, the resort town where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had been staying before leaving for İstanbul on the night of the coup attempt.
Çıray questioned why the commission had not invited Kadir Topbaş, the former İstanbul mayor from the AKP, to testify. Topbaş traveled to the United States three days before the coup attempt and returned five days later, Çıray said.
“I cannot understand why the commission has not invited Kadir Topbaş, who went to the United States three days before the coup and returned five days later, to testify here,” he said.
The AKP’s majority on the commission also blocked testimony from several critical figures, including then-Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan, then head of the National Intelligence Organization.
For critics of Ankara’s official account, the refusal to hear senior officials such as Akar and Fidan remains one of the clearest signs that the parliamentary inquiry was not allowed to examine the coup attempt independently.
