Journalist Ahmet Nesin continued his interview series with exiled Col. Hüseyin Demirtaş in a February 7, 2020 program examining the conduct of senior Turkish commanders during Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Nesin presented the interview as part of a broader effort to revisit July 15 from perspectives he said were excluded from Turkey’s government-controlled media narrative.
Ankara blames the coup attempt on the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and designates the movement as a terrorist organization. The movement denies involvement.
Focus on commanders’ conduct
The program description framed the episode around the behavior of senior military officers during the most critical hours of July 15.
It asked which commanders hid, which tried to protect their own position and which commander allegedly refused to answer calls while watching developments from afar.
Without the full transcript, the specific names, incidents and allegations discussed in the episode cannot be independently summarized from the supplied material alone. But the description makes clear that the program focused on command responsibility and the conduct of officers who were in positions to act during the coup attempt.
Questions of responsibility and self-protection
The title and description suggested that Nesin and Demirtaş questioned whether some commanders avoided responsibility while lower-ranking officers, cadets and soldiers bore the consequences of the night.
This theme fits the broader framing of the series, which repeatedly examined whether post-coup prosecutions targeted selected military personnel while leaving other actors, including senior figures, insufficiently scrutinized.
The episode appeared to ask whether some commanders’ inaction, disappearance or silence helped shape the course of events and later allowed them to distance themselves from responsibility.
Controlled media narrative challenged
The video description urged viewers to listen carefully, saying Demirtaş’s statements would show the events from an angle they had not seen before.
It also said viewers would understand how much remained unknown and how controlled media had directed and shaped public opinion.
Nesin’s framing suggested that the program would examine not only military decisions but also how those decisions were later presented, hidden or reframed in the public narrative.
Series continues July 15 scrutiny
The program was part of Nesin’s continuing interview series with Demirtaş on developments before and after the coup attempt.
Nesin described the remarks as likely to generate debate and said he would continue writing and speaking about July 15 until all facts about the coup attempt were revealed.
The video below presents Ahmet Nesin’s interview with Col. Hüseyin Demirtaş on commanders who allegedly hid, avoided phone calls or tried to protect themselves during the July 15 coup attempt.
