What Happened to the Colonel Who Came Out of the Darkness?!

As I continue to write about the Gendarmerie file, let us begin again with some of the message-laden posts by the late Staff Colonel Güven Şağban.

On April 24, 2023, in response to a post by the then-Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, which stated, “Should the person who watched the July 15 treacherous coup as if watching a match, sitting with legs crossed, cooperating with them and making deals with tanks, be the President? Or should our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who stood by the nation to the death, be the President?” he replied as follows:

“Süleyman Soylu, who says this, retired those who fought against FETÖ on the night of July 15 and before. He promoted those who walked the path with FETÖ, those who had connections/affiliations, and those who came out of the darkness that night. When the time comes, these will also come to light. It won't be long...”

He responded to Erdoğan’s statement last year on July 15, “We noted who stood where that night,” by saying the next day, “Mr. President, unfortunately, they have misled you... You promoted those who watched what was happening while eating sunflower seeds that night, those who came out of the darkness, those who communicated with the coup plotters, those who later testified in their favor, those who provided the academy exam questions, and those who walked the path with them for a long time.”

Again, on September 19, 2023, upon CHP member Murat Bakan bringing up the fact that Süleyman Soylu had revoked the protection status of the July 15 heroes, he asked the questions: “I wonder what he had against us? Did we step on the toes of the friends he met at the Abant meetings by preventing the coup and fighting against FETÖ?”

Three days later, on September 22, his post, in which he also tagged retired Staff Colonel Mustafa Önsel, who spent years in prison during the Balyoz conspiracy, was as follows:

“There is a man who came out of the darkness on July 15. And there is a man waiting in the darkness. The one who came out of the darkness is never seen in public. He advances from deep within. He gives good testimony. The one waiting in the darkness loves to have his photo taken. Let’s see who will notice them and when.”

THE 5 STAFF OFFICERS IN THE GENDARMERIE

There are two main topics that the late Güven Şağban touched upon in these messages he gave in the last year of his life: that those who fought against the coup plotters in the Gendarmerie on July 15 were purged, and that there was a “man who came out of the darkness”...

As emphasized in the foreword of the book “Yaşadıklarımın Çığlığı” (The Scream of What I Experienced) by Haluk Hepkon, the owner of Kırmızı Kitabevi, who brought together the July 15 notes compiled by the late Güven Şağban on his sickbed: “He never forgot the hasty purging of himself and the officers who had opposed FETÖ from the very beginning. Remaining silent against injustices was not something someone with his character could do. In a statement he gave to the press, he had expressed his reaction by saying, 'FETÖ could not retire me, but Süleyman Soylu did.'”

When Arif Çetin, who had been the Gendarmerie General Commander for 7 years, was retired due to the age limit by the Presidential decree published four days ago, the pro-government media talked about what a great effort he made in the failure of the July 15 coup attempt; let us also remind you what happened to the other 5 commanders who fought that struggle alongside Çetin.

These 5 staff colonels, whose heroism was written and drawn about in the aftermath of July 15 and in the following anniversaries, were the late Güven Şağban, Ali Demir, Ahmet Hacıoğlu, Aziz Yılmaz, and Nurettin Alkan.

The first to be purged was the late Güven Şağban. While he was the Head of the Intelligence Planning and Security Department at the Headquarters, shortly after the coup attempt, he was first assigned to the Giresun Gendarmerie Command and then retired with the 2017 decree.

With the same decree, while Aziz Yılmaz, Head of the Personnel Planning and Management Department, and Nurettin Alkan, Head of the Intelligence Department, were moved to passive duties, a criminal complaint was filed with the prosecutor's office against Aziz Yılmaz on the accusation of leaking news that these individuals were prevented from being awarded the “State Medal of Honor,” and he was referred to the Gendarmerie General Command High Disciplinary Board with a request for “dismissal from the profession.” Yılmaz, who spent 3 years in prison during the Balyoz conspiracy, became the second name to be retired with the 2018 decree.

Let us look at the situation of Ali Demir and Ahmet Hacıoğlu, who also spent time in prison during the Balyoz conspiracy.

Immediately after July 15, it was decided to appoint Ali Demir as the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Commander. However, according to allegations, when Hüseyin Kurtoğlu was given Istanbul upon the personal intervention of Erdoğan, Demir was sent to Diyarbakır. After fighting against PKK terrorists there for two years, he was made an advisor to the Baku Embassy. He was expected to be brought to a position at the Headquarters; but he was retired in 2020.

Ahmet Hacıoğlu, who engaged in armed conflict with the coup plotters until the morning, was first appointed as the Bursa Provincial Gendarmerie Commander after July 15. While he was expected to come to the Headquarters from Bursa, he was assigned as the Erzurum Regional Commander, and then as the Şırnak Gendarmerie Regional Commander. Ultimately, he joined the caravan of those retired in 2020 without ever being able to return to the Headquarters.

THE ONLY REMAINING NAME WAS ALSO GOING TO BE RETIRED 4 YEARS AGO, BUT

The only name among these 5 commanders who remained in service was Nurettin Alkan, who was promoted to Brigadier General and then to Major General in the process.

In the book “Yaşadıklarımın Çığlığı,” the late Güven Şağban detailed what Nurettin Alkan, who was shot in the shoulder by the coup plotters who took him hostage on the night of July 15, did to prevent the coup while he was being taken to hospitals that were being attempted to be seized by “FETÖ” members.

Let us tell the subsequent phase of Alkan. He was promoted after July 15, but was appointed as the Interior Advisor to our Moscow Embassy.

The allegation is that the then-Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu decided to retire him in 2020; however, just at that moment, when it was understood that he was also among the names to whom Erdoğan would give the State Medal of Honor, his name was removed from the decree. According to another allegation, while it was planned for Alkan to be appointed as the Personnel Head of the Gendarmerie General Command upon his return from Moscow, someone intervened and sent him to the Tunceli Gendarmerie Regional Command. Finally, Alkan, who was assigned to the Balıkesir Provincial Gendarmerie Command last year, was neither promoted nor able to come to the Headquarters this year.

It is understood why the late Şağban cried out so much for the purges, isn't it?

THAT COLONEL ROSE AGAIN

As for Şağban’s emphasis on the “man who came out of the darkness”;

The late Güven Şağban summarized this person, whom retired Staff Colonel Mustafa Önsel had also mentioned in his articles and books without giving his name as the “colonel who came in the darkness of the night,” in “Yaşadıklarımın Çığlığı” as follows:

“Another colonel would come to the Headquarters that night, about 15-20 minutes after we left the gate and I was taken hostage and Nurettin Alkan was wounded. The colonel explains his few minutes of meeting with the coup plotter at the gate by saying, ‘I asked what was happening, and when I received the answer that the TSK had seized control, I said that what they were doing was wrong and left.’ When Aziz Yılmaz said to this colonel the next day, ‘I saw you at the Headquarters gate last night,’ he first denies it, then says, ‘I came, but I turned back without entering the Headquarters.’ When we arrived at the Headquarters, we had also said that what the coup plotters were doing was wrong, more or less like this colonel, but we were not welcomed in a hospitable way at all. Why didn't those who tried to take us hostage, shot Nurettin Alkan, and fired at us treat this colonel in a similar way?”

Continuing to touch upon other suspicious activities of that colonel before and after July 15, the late Şağban pointed out that 90 percent of the personnel whom he called “the solid kids in our department” were involved in the coup, that this colonel paved the way for former colonel Erkan Öktem, who shot TEM Department Head Turgut Aslan in the head on the night of July 15, and that information had come from MIT and the Police before July 15 that this colonel was “affiliated with FETÖ,” and finally noted the following:

“The information received seemed quite serious, but unfortunately, no action was taken regarding this colonel. Now you are wondering what happened to this colonel. If you think that an investigation or something was conducted about him, you are absolutely wrong. After the coup, he was promoted in 2017 and became a brigadier general. He was brought to a very important position where the fight against FETÖ is carried out. Then he became a major general. As these lines are being written, he continues to rise. In short, while people like us who touch FETÖ are practically burning, those who are on good terms with FETÖ continue to rise and come to critical positions after July 15.”

The late Şağban did not live to see it; but if you are wondering what happened to this colonel, let us tell you:

He received another promotion with the latest decree and was brought to a critical position again!..