Another strange document in the February 28 case

In the February 28 conspiracy case, where the General Staff headquarters of the era was put on trial and which was prepared by “FETÖ” members—from prosecutors to judges, expert witnesses to those who carried the "suitcases" of evidence—a new conflict involving Hanefi Avcı has emerged. It has been revealed that among the digital files allegedly seized from the home of retired Police Chief Avcı during the Revolutionary Headquarters case, in which he was tried and acquitted, there was a document bearing the name of the former military doctor who brought the so-called evidence of February 28 to the prosecutors.

The hearing for the February 28 case, which is being retried for some defendants at the Ankara 5th High Criminal Court following the reversal decision by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, was attended today by defendants Ersin Yılmaz, Muhittin Erdal Şenel, Metin Yaşar Yükselen, Erdoğan Öznal, Şükrü Sarıışık, and İbrahim Selman Yazıcı, along with their lawyers.

Defense attorney Mehmet Sever requested that the case files be brought for Tamer Tatar, who is still being tried for “FETÖ” membership; Deniz Ay, who found the fabricated minutes regarding the meeting allegedly held at the General Staff headquarters on April 7, 1997, and was sentenced in the July 15 coup attempt case; and Gökhan Eski, who had unrestricted access to the General Staff at the time and was also convicted in the July 15 case.

CAN LIGHTNING STRIKE THE SAME SPOT SO MANY TIMES?

Attorney Aykanat Kaçmaz explained Tamer Tatar's role in the February 28 file using a “lightning strike” analogy.

Recalling that the so-called evidence of February 28 emerged from a package sent to Tatar while he was working as a doctor in Çorlu under the name of an intelligence officer, and that Tatar immediately took it to former prosecutor Hüseyin Ayar in Istanbul, who is still wanted via a red notice, Attorney Kaçmaz continued:

“That intelligence officer comes here but says, ‘I didn't send it.’ Because the prosecutor of this case, Mustafa Bilgili, did not take that cargo package into judicial custody so that the fingerprints would not be revealed. Later, when Tamer Tatar was working in Istanbul, another package arrived. But he did not take these to the Istanbul prosecutors; he brought them to Mustafa Bilgili in Ankara. And he opened the case. The security numbers of some documents in the Revolutionary Headquarters case file, in which Hanefi Avcı was tried—and initially convicted before being acquitted—turned out to be identical to the security numbers of the documents Tamer Tatar provided for the February 28 case.”

Following these reminders, Attorney Kaçmaz announced that he had reached a new document in the Hanefi Avcı file. Stating that a document labeled “campaign control form” among the digital files allegedly seized from Avcı’s home bore the name “Tamer Tatar,” he said, “What more could there be? They forgot to delete it. It is clear that Tamer Tatar is part of this conspiracy. Can lightning strike the same spot this many times? What other evidence do we need to present?”

OPINION ON THE MERITS

Following the statements, the presiding judge announced that the court had decided to have the case files of Tamer Tatar, Deniz Ay, and Gökhan Eski brought to the court, and to submit the file to the Prosecutor's Office for the preparation of the opinion on the merits, following the receipt of any requests from the defendants and their lawyers to expand the prosecution during the interim period, and adjourned the hearing to May 5.

Müyesser YILDIZ

February 17, 2025