Terrifying Allegations from a Coup-Plotting General and Erdoğan's Former Chief Aide

Former Brigadier General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, the only figure to declare “I am a coup plotter” regarding the July 15 coup attempt, wanted to speak once again. However, when the Presiding Judge cut him off, stating he would not allow him to put on a show, Sönmezateş asked the Judge and Prosecutor, “Don't you want to learn, name by name, where and how the coup was planned?” Erdoğan's former Chief Aide, Ali Yazıcı, also alleged that the Chief of General Staff at the time, Hulusi Akar, had called Erdoğan a “hypocrite.”

The fourth hearing of the case against individuals identified as members of the so-called Peace at Home Council, for causing the injury of 3,000 people on July 15, was held yesterday at the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court. At the start of the hearing, held in the courtroom within the Sincan Prison complex, the Presiding Judge stated that they would await the Supreme Court's verdict on the General Staff Main Case and the cases of the primary perpetrators responsible for the injuries, and that only the defendants' requests—if any—would be taken.

When the first two defendants given the floor stated they had no statements to make, the Judge said, “We are expecting the same sentence from everyone.”

Then, former Air Force Commander Akın Öztürk, who is alleged to be the number 1 of the coup, spoke as follows:

“Former Special Forces Commander Zekai Aksakallı says in his statement, 'We rescued Akın Öztürk along with Yaşar Güler and Abidin Ünal at Akıncı.' This is the most critical point. The reason for my going to Akıncı that night is that Air Force Commander Abidin Ünal called and said, 'Brother, will you go?' Before going, we called Akıncı. Hulusi Akar was there. They said, 'He is waiting for you,' so I went. I was with Hulusi Akar until the morning. But in the statement he sent to the TBMM July 15 Coup Investigation Commission, he never mentioned me. Based on the statement of a confessing admiral, they attached me to this indictment. Even though that admiral later said, 'I didn't say Akın Öztürk, I said Adil Öksüz. I don't know or recognize Akın Öztürk,' I remained in the indictment as the head of the council. For 8 years, not a single soul has asked me anything. For God's sake...”

WHO DID HE ACCUSE WHILE CELEBRATING ERDOĞAN'S BIRTHDAY?

While giving the floor to Erdoğan's former chief aide Ali Yazıcı, the Presiding Judge reminded him, “The result from the Supreme Court will affect your legal status. You might not even be in this file. Your legal status may change; you may leave without making a defense.” The following dialogue then took place:

Yazıcı: “Why am I being tried? Three foreclosures have arrived.”

Judge: “We have no interest in that. Tell us your requests that concern us.”

Yazıcı: “How should I know what concerns you and what doesn't?”

Judge: “Foreclosures, for example.”

Yazıcı: “Fine, I want to speak. I am celebrating the birthday of the President, whom I stayed with for 1 year.”

Judge: “This sentence has nothing to do with the case; I will cut you off.”

Yazıcı: “8 years ago, I gave him a nice gift in the car, and he accepted it. Now I want to give him a gift too. Will you allow it? My red line is the state and the head of state. I will not say a single word against the President.”

Judge: “You are celebrating the President's birthday.”

Yazıcı: “Is it forbidden?”

Judge: “It's not, but it's not related to our case.”

Yazıcı: “Someone who goes to hug their child every evening cannot understand me. Why, who are you afraid of?”

Judge: “I am not afraid of anyone.”

Yazıcı: “During my defense in the General Staff Main Case, the presiding judge at the time said, 'Finish in 2 hours, I will give you a sentence.' It is Metin Kıratlı who makes the decisions here digestible. I love the President; I will not share his private matters.”

Judge: “Let's take the request. You are demagoguing well, you are playing the game well.”

Yazıcı: “You have the power of the state behind you, and you are laying down the law.”

Judge: “Sit down.”

Yazıcı: “I will not say anything that will put the state in a difficult position.”

Judge: “Sit down, Mr. Ali.”

Yazıcı: “If one day the Chief calls me, you can pick a place on the map.”

Judge: “Normally, the floor is not given during an interim hearing.”

Yazıcı: “I will tell you what Hulusi Akar said about the President. He is now standing behind the man he called a 'hypocrite.' I have never cursed the President.”

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE "ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON THE PRIME MINISTER IN THE ILGAZ TUNNEL" CLAIM?

Former Staff Colonel Bilal Akyüz, one of the defendants alleged to have had a note in his vehicle regarding the assassination of the then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, made the following claims on the subject:

“When it was understood that those who did this in the Ilgaz Tunnel were not the so-called coup plotters, Binali Yıldırım did not even file a complaint. Yes, you heard that right, he didn't even file a complaint. I was accused first, then it was removed from this justification and the claim was dropped. Such an important claim was not investigated, not inquired into, and no public case was opened. As a result of what bargain did Binali Yıldırım give up on this claim and step aside? There was definitely no such note belonging to me. I insisted that a handwriting sample be taken. I gave samples twice, but no result came. As a matter of fact, the former Presiding Judge Oğuz Dik said about this note written in pencil, 'You don't write that ugly... We sent it many times, but no result came.' So, the writing was not mine. There is only one explanation for Binali Yıldırım not filing a complaint; Binali Yıldırım was silenced by being told that this was a theater and that he should not pursue the President. Binali Yıldırım having an accident only in Azerbaijan in 2022 brings Ilgaz to mind. This can also be evaluated as an attempt to silence Binali Yıldırım. I demand that the investigation regarding Ilgaz be expanded and that a letter be written to Azerbaijan to bring the documents regarding the accident into the file.”

"DID AN ORDER COME TO NOT LET ME SPEAK?"

After Akyüz, former Brigadier General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, who confessed, “Yes, I am a coup plotter, but I am not a FETÖ member,” and was sentenced to hundreds of aggravated life sentences on charges of assassinating Erdoğan, took the floor.

Sönmezateş, who drew attention at the hearing regarding the July 15 martyrs held on July 10 at the same 17th High Criminal Court by speaking for the first time after 4 years and claiming that “everyone was given a gag order and an order not to speak about Hulusi Akar before the trials began,” stated that he would make a long statement at yesterday's hearing as well.

The Presiding Judge warned, “Requests do not take this long. I will not allow you to make a statement so that it is written for the press, not for us, like last time. Let me take your requests, don't prolong it. Not a commentary or a statement; a request.”

Sönmezateş replied, “I will give it in writing anyway. I don't care whether they write about me or not. I have requests for the expansion of the prosecution and other matters. I have never made any of my statements for the media until today. It wasn't written anyway; only once...” and then explained the following:

“A MASAK report has been issued about us. If we are the golden generation, the children of the Gülen community, as the FETÖ term so loved by Perinçek's followers and nationalists goes, then this report is important. There are also the heroes of July 15 imposed by the system. Let a MASAK report be obtained for them as well. Let the MASAK reports of the soldiers here and those who have continued their duties and risen in rank come, and let's compare them. If the reports of Hulusi Akar, Yaşar Güler, Metin Gürak, Abidin Ünal, Arif Çetin, Cihat Yaycı, Mehmet Okkan, Levent Bektaş, Halil İbrahim Fırtına, Can Çevik, İsmail Hakkı Pekin, Zeki Üçok, Levent Göktaş, Şirin Ünal, İsmail Metin Temel, Zekai Aksakallı, Yücel Karauz, Atilla Şirin, Ömer Şevki Gençtürk, İrfan Özsert, and Mehmet Yüzbaşıoğlu and their first-degree relatives come, we will see who is a bribe-taker and a thief.”

When the Presiding Judge warned Sönmezateş once again, the following dialogue took place:

Sönmezateş: “I am not speaking to the media, I am speaking to you. If an order came to you to 'not let me speak,' I would understand that.”

Judge: “No one can give us orders.”

Sönmezateş: “There is a coup, but there is nothing there. We participated in the coup, which only I admitted, but I want to explain for those who did not participate and are not FETÖ members.”

Judge: “Do not explain.”

Sönmezateş: “Don't you want to learn, name by name, where and how the coup was planned? Prosecutor, don't you want to either? I have to explain, because I will demand their arrest.”

Judge: “Give the names.”

Sönmezateş: “No, let me explain so that it can be understood how Turkey gradually turned from a democracy into a dictatorship, how the police and judiciary became unable to function, and how they came entirely under Erdoğan's control.”

When the Presiding Judge warned Sönmezateş again, the dialogue continued as follows:

Sönmezateş: “I said that Erdoğan would be arrested and tried for corruption. If he is innocent, if the assets he declared are correct, then I am guilty.”

Judge: “Our subject is the injuries. I will cut you off. These speeches have nothing to do with the file.”

Sönmezateş: “Fine. There are two teams in the Special Forces Command. One is the traitorous, hashishin team that shot Ömer Halisdemir. The other is the team that, on the orders of Zekai Aksakallı that night, took control of the Special Forces Command Headquarters and killed the coup plotters and FETÖ members. You are holding me responsible for these and trying me, right? But the two teams are the same; it is Mihrali Atmaca's team. Which of these teams will you try me through now? Let Zekai Aksakallı come and explain these teams to us.”

HE REQUESTED THAT İLKER BAŞBUĞ BE HEARD

Continuing his words, Sönmezateş said, “A coup has a logic. If everyone wants to believe that we sat in a villa and decided on a coup, they can believe it. If you say, 'The four-star generals are not involved,' you cannot change beliefs. I never went to that villa. The HTS records are there, it is seen where I was,” and made the following claims:

“If I knew you would listen, I would start from the Necip Torumtay era and explain how the coup was planned; what happened during the Doğan Güreş, İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, February 28 process, and the Hilmi Özkök era. In 2004-2005, I was the MAK Commander in İzmir and I had a duty in the coup. Good thing it didn't happen. Yaşar Büyükanıt was the man of the tutelage, the expected Chief of General Staff. Things heated up in that period. Balyoz, Ergenekon; they are all real. Those who prepared them are now in prison. What surprises me is that they don't speak.”

When Sönmezateş brought up İlker Başbuğ, the Presiding Judge said, “Do you have a request from us? These are cases where the trials have ended.” Sönmezateş replied, “I don't know if you are a nationalist or a political Islamist; I don't know your view,” and then directed the following accusations at those who were mostly tried in the Ergenekon and Balyoz conspiracy cases:

“All the justifications for July 15 existed during the 2008-2010 İlker Başbuğ era; a coup was coming. Everything was planned. Erdoğan learned this. By working with MIT and Police Intelligence, and meeting with FETÖ police officers every day, he started counter-preparations. İlker Başbuğ, Hasan Iğsız, İsmail Hakkı Pekin, Mustafa Bakıcı, Uğur Tarçın; Başbuğ's right-hand man, the current Chief of General Staff Metin Gürak, were those working for the coup. Also Dursun Çiçek, Sedat Özel, Hulusi Gülbahar, İlker Ziya Göktaş, Fuat Selvi, and Kemal Eskintan, who later became Hakan Fidan's right-hand man—he was also anti-Erdoğan. There were dozens of officers and non-commissioned officers under them. If a case is opened regarding these names, I will not testify in any of them. Because they did whatever İlker Başbuğ ordered. Websites were set up. We had radios. Dursun Çiçek and his team planned the Republic rallies. Tuncay Özkan worked closely with them. Mustafa Balbay and Ümit Özdağ were names close to the tutelage regime.”

When the Presiding Judge said, “Everyone who follows the press knows these,” Sönmezateş replied, “Do you really know? I want İlker Başbuğ to be heard as a witness.” When the Judge asked Sönmezateş to sit down, saying, “Okay, your concern is not a request,” the following argument ensued:

Ali Yazıcı: “I have been lying in prison for 8 years. The Chief gave my child his name.”

Judge: “I will not let the court be used as material for a show. If you are sincere, write a book and put it on the market.”

Sönmezateş: “You are a man of law.”

Judge: “I am not allowing it because I am a man of law.”

Sönmezateş: “If you call it a show, you are the one putting on a show.”

Judge: (Addressing the gendarmerie commander) “Take him back to his place.”

Sönmezateş: “I will go myself. It is clear who is putting on a show.”

Muhsin Kutsi Barış: “Instead of reaching the screenwriters and planners of July 15, why are you silencing us? Why don't Hulusi Akar, Yaşar Güler, and Zekai Aksakallı come? I cannot understand why you don't want to listen to our friends.”

Murat Aygün: “We don't even know the number of wounded more clearly. Why are these wounded and their lawyers not here?”

Orhan Yıkılkan: “Yes, it is your right to manage the court; but I also have the right to learn the truth. We have been here for 8 years. If the people behind the work are to be revealed, one must listen with patience. Since these are the people who know, they should speak. It is the right of both the press and the public to learn these.”

"THE WEAPONS OF BORA KAPLAN AND HIS GANG SHOULD BE EXAMINED"

Some other defendants who made statements after these discussions said in summary:

Osman Kılıç: “It is known that members of the Bora Kaplan gang went to TRT with Süleyman Soylu on July 15. Where did they get the weapons, where did they use them; their fate and ballistic reports should be examined. Also, the ballistic examination and reports of the weapons of the police who intervened in all barracks on July 15 should be examined by independent experts.”

Osman Ünlü: “I was convicted with a single sentence that I went to the 4th Corps that night. I met with the then-Minister of National Defense İsmet Yılmaz at 01:00, and he said, 'Let's act together.' I am the general who made the first anti-coup statement to TRT.”

Özcan Karacan: “Most of the files regarding the wounded are full of fabricated statements. Cavit Akçay, who is called a veteran, was defrauding people by acting as a cowherd at the Army Aviation Command. When I detected this, I assigned him to a place where he could not talk on the phone. When he couldn't carry out his business, he resigned a few months later. Now he says he was shot in the butt on July 15. There is no document, no witness.”

"WHEN WAS MIT'S AIR DEFENSE SYSTEM ESTABLISHED?"

Ünsal Coşkun: “It was announced that MIT used air defense systems on July 15. Did MIT have such a duty? With which organization were these activities carried out? When and how did air defense missiles and weapons enter MIT? When and where did the personnel train with these weapons? If the personnel and weapons used in these activities were not their own weapons and personnel, could these activities have anything to do with Muaz Hatip, the former President of the Syrian National Coalition, who was having dinner with Undersecretary Hakan Fidan at MIT that night?”

Murat Koçyiğit: “It is alleged that I was in the villa where the coup was planned in the first week of July. However, I was acting for Gendarmerie School Commander Brigadier General Sadık Köroğlu because he was on leave between July 1-10. Let a document be requested from the Gendarmerie regarding this.”

INTERESTING MESSAGES FROM ALİ YAZICI TO THE PALACE

Finally, taking the floor once again, Erdoğan's former chief aide Ali Yazıcı made these interesting statements as a message to the Palace:

“My little daughter is 8 years old. He named her Reis, Hatice Azra. I left her when she was 7 months old. They handcuffed her mother and kept her in detention in Tokat for three days. I was responsible for Dağlıca; if an assassination attempt had been made on the Chief, no one would have remained alive in the Palace. I risked my life so that not a hair on the Chief's head would be harmed. If I had set my mind to killing the Chief, I had two assassination weapons. My wife is a mother of 3 children, her rights were taken away. The court said, 'Give her rights,' they didn't. The Chief chose me and took me with him. People are afraid because he took me. I lived by his side 24 hours a day. What I lived, what I saw is my honor. I haven't told anyone anywhere, but they are harassing me. I like İbrahim Kalın and his institution. But here, some people say they are from the institution and come at me. The then-Second Chief of General Staff Yaşar Güler was my primary superior, and Hulusi Akar was my secondary superior. Hulusi Akar said, 'You are a soldier, you will come and report to me.' I went and reported every week or two. I didn't tell what he said. But now, I was ashamed when I saw Akar's statements at the Palestine meeting held in Galata on January 1. I know what he said about the Chief. Mothers are the greatest sacred. They are cursing my mother who died 15 years ago. I saw and shared incredible things with the Chief. Even if they kill me, I won't tell, but they are tormenting me a lot. Ahmet Zeki Üçok and I are both from Trabzon. My friends said about him, 'He is neither Turkish nor Muslim.' He says I stole the questions. Hey, I was always at the forefront. The Chief chose me. He is the one who actually took the questions and went to the USA. He announced that Hulusi Akar's daughter is studying nursing in the USA. I know everything about Hulusi Akar too, but I won't tell. 8 years... I am writing to the necessary places, but no action is taken. There is only one place, the Chief; I cannot reach him either.”

After the Presiding Judge's warning “not to put on a show,” Yazıcı concluded his words as follows:

“What show, Judge? I didn't talk about cocaine parties, or going to the Vatican to the people of Lot by helicopter. But don't push me any further. Don't come at me anymore. I didn't talk about Hasan Doğan, Fahri Kasırga's secret fund, or Zühtü Aslan, who remembered human rights on his way out. What do they want from me? I was going to tell some things without implicating the President and the state, but... Necdet Özel declared me an AKP member and became my enemy. I pleased neither Jesus nor Moses. Don't come at me, I have no strength left. I wrote a petition to the prosecutors to kill me. Don't mess with my children, give them their rights. They are also kicking us out of the house. Don't make them experience additional persecution.”

After the statements of the defendants and lawyers were finished, the Prosecutor gave an opinion in the direction of executing the arrest warrants for the fugitive defendants of the case, Fetullah Gülen, Turgay Sökmen, and Ali Kalyoncu, and awaiting the results of the cases where the primary perpetrators regarding the injuries were tried and the General Staff Main Case.

In addition to this opinion, the court decided to reject the requests to hear witnesses at this stage, and also to ask the Gendarmerie General Command whether defendant Murat Koçyiğit was the acting school commander between July 1-10, and adjourned the hearing to December 23.

Upon this, Ali Yazıcı reminded that December 23 is the anniversary of the Menemen incident where Second Lieutenant Kubilay was martyred, and asked for it to be changed. The Presiding Judge replied, “We can't please you with a day either.”