July 15 weapons: Ballistic reports claimed to be 'non-existent' emerge 10 years later

Regarding the weapons used in the July 15 coup attempt, many things were said, such as “There are missing weapons, there are no ballistic reports.” 10 years later, it has emerged that the ballistic examination of the weapons surrendered or collected at the General Staff was conducted 4 months after July 15, but these reports were not sent to the courts.

Although it no longer attracts anyone's attention, the coup trials continue. One of these is the General Staff Headquarters Case, which is being retried following the Supreme Court of Appeals' partial reversal decision.

In the hearings held last week at the courtroom in the Sincan Prison Complex by the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court, the defendants once again made interesting claims.

Epstein Correspondence Regarding the Turkish Armed Forces

Former Staff Colonel Muhsin Kutsi Barış, the then-Commander of the Presidential Guard Regiment, who had previously presented his defense, requested the floor, stating, “New evidence regarding July 15 is emerging every day.” He drew attention to a correspondence belonging to Jeffrey Epstein, who is understood to have been a “child sex offender, serial rapist, and human trafficker.” Stating that after the Epstein documents were released, an email sent to Epstein by someone named Dan Dubno, likely an employee of British intelligence, which read, “Erdoğan is conducting a purge by clearing out names within the Turkish army who have historically maintained good relations with Israel,” was linked to July 15, Barış emphasized that the date of this correspondence, the original of which he requested from his lawyers, was January 27, 2012, and then said the following:

“Epstein is someone who engages in global espionage and sets honey traps. Presenting that correspondence as if it were connected to July 15 is a serious slander and casts suspicion on all of us. An image is being created as if we were Israeli agents.”

Upon these words, the Presiding Judge said, “We are not interested in perception; we are interested in whatever is in the file.” Muhsin Kutsi Barış replied, “July 15 is already running on perception.”

Thanks to the Presidential Lawyer

Former Staff Colonel Murat Korkmaz, who served in the Special Forces Command at the time and had also previously presented his defense, made an additional statement regarding the weapons of the personnel who went to the General Staff Headquarters on the night of July 15 and the ballistic reports related to them.

At the beginning of his remarks, thanking Presidential lawyer Süleyman Ayhan—to whom he said he had told, “Go out and do what is necessary”—for “making him feel the compassionate hand of the state,” Korkmaz explained why he had been fighting for the emergence of the ballistic reports for exactly 10 years:

“I worked in a terror zone, I fired weapons at traitors, but it is impossible for me to fire at anyone else. When I was detained on July 18, 2016, I provided the serial number of my M4 infantry rifle, which was my assigned service weapon. In the process that followed, I always asked where this rifle was and whether a ballistic examination had been conducted. Because when the ballistic examination was done, it would be understood that I did not fire. However, the courts did not ask for these; when asked, it was reported that the weapon did not exist and no ballistic examination had been conducted. Ultimately, in another case opened against us in 2023 due to some materials missing from the Special Forces Command (ÖKK), the court of first instance asked the ÖKK for a list of ‘weapons/equipment and materials brought and surrendered to the ÖKK after July 15 and sent by the prosecutor's office for ballistic examination,’ and asked whether my M4 infantry rifle was on this list and whether a ballistic examination had been conducted on it. While the ÖKK sent the list of surrendered weapons/equipment and materials and reported that my rifle was among them, it gave the answer that the list of those sent for ballistic examination could not be determined.”

“Why Were the Reports Not Sent?”

Pointing out that after the correspondence made upon his persistent requests, the ballistic reports prepared by the Ankara Regional Criminal Police Laboratory in recent months were sent to the court and that the date of the report was November 2, 2016, Murat Korkmaz noted the following:

“Thanks to these reports, I also found a weapon for which a compensation lawsuit was filed against me on the grounds that it was missing. It is in the records, meaning it is not missing. It was claimed that I distributed unassigned weapons in the Presidential Guard Regiment. But it turned out that they were all distributed and collected with signatures. There were 41 weapons among our 52 personnel who went to the General Staff Headquarters that night. It was determined that none of them were fired. On the other hand, having 41 weapons for 52 personnel means ‘there are those who do not have weapons.’ While it is impossible for an unarmed man to fire, they were also punished. While those who were in other units and were understood to have fired were not even made principal perpetrators, why are we joint perpetrators? It is said, ‘There was a shooting with a steel-piercing weapon.’ However, there is no such weapon among the weapons taken from the General Staff. In other words, the perpetrator of one of those killed is not at the General Staff. If fingerprints and swabs were not taken from the collected and fired weapons, what is the crime of me and my personnel? I was sentenced for 10 killings and 16 injuries. That is why I have been shouting for 10 years to get rid of this heavy accusation. I was sentenced with the assumption that I opened fire. The former Presiding Judge of the court, Oğuz Dik, always asked, ‘Did you open fire until morning?’ If these ballistic reports had been requested at that time or if the Police had sent them to the prosecutor's office, it would not have been like this. It was said, ‘The weapons were not found, there is no ballistics,’ and the sentence was given. The Supreme Court of Appeals' verdict also came out like this.”

At the end of his statement, Korkmaz requested that he be retried based on the ballistic reports and that his acquittal be decided.

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 6, 2026