Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Eren Erdem claimed that then-Defense Minister Fikri Işık met Adil Öksüz, an academic labeled by the government as one of the leaders of Turkey’s July 15, 2016 coup attempt, the day before the putsch bid.
He claimed that Işık met Öksüz in Sakarya on July 14, 2016, and that video footage of the alleged meeting existed.
Erdem also claimed that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), knew who had the footage.
The report presented the claim as a politically explosive allegation by the İstanbul deputy from the main opposition CHP. It did not include independent confirmation of the alleged meeting or the existence of the footage.
Öksüz, a theology lecturer, became one of the most contested figures in Turkey’s post-coup narrative after he was detained near Akıncı Air Base following the coup attempt and then released. His release and subsequent disappearance have remained central to critical accounts questioning the official July 15 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.
