What happened at the General Staff before July 15?

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

Former staff colonel Orhan Yıkılkan, chief advisor to the then-Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar, who presented his defense in the General Staff 'Roof' Case being retried by the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court following the Court of Cassation's reversal decision, claimed that a delegation met with the community on behalf of Hulusi Akar between November 2014 and March 2016, and that this delegation carried messages back and forth saying, "We need your support." Yıkılkan, who also alleged that the relationship established between Erdoğan and the then-Air Force Commander Abidin Ünal without his knowledge, the purging of Abdullah Gül from the state and the AKP, the signs of purging Ahmet Davutoğlu, and the shaky status of Hakan Fidan created a fear in Akar that "my turn is coming," stated that whatever he did, he did it not by the order of "FETÖ," but by the order of the Chief of General Staff.

Orhan Yıkılkan, who completed his defense yesterday after starting it on Tuesday, explained the following in response to the accusation that he actively participated in meetings held in the Regiment Headquarters' meeting hall regarding the coup plan with the then-Presidential Guard Regiment Commander Muhsin Kutsi Barış:

"I only went to the Guard Regiment to use the social facilities. All my entries and exits are recorded. There are 185 cameras there, and there is not a single image showing that I attended a meeting. What can I explain in the midst of nothingness? According to a witness statement, I spoke with Muhsin Kutsi Barış via a crypto phone. Do I have a crypto phone? No. It appears that Muhsin Kutsi Barış called two people from the military line that night. The phone he called at 20:36 and 20:41 was the one used directly by Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar, and the phone he called at 20:48 was the one used by 2nd Chief Yaşar Güler. Despite this, it is said that I gave the order, 'Let the exercise begin.' Was it asked to whom those numbers belonged? No. At least I should not be slandered."

WHO DID THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL WHO HAD THE COUP DECLARATION READ CALL?

While stating that he was accused of having the July 15 coup declaration read on TRT, even though it was not in the indictment or the prosecutor's opinion, Yıkılkan spoke as follows:

"Lieutenant Colonel Ümit Gençer, who had the declaration read, called me at 00:04. The declaration was read at 00:13. How could I have sent the declaration and organized this in these 9 minutes? Anyway, according to the TEM (Counter-Terrorism) report, the time and data information of the message and email regarding the declaration are clear. As is whose phone it was sent from. Furthermore, when Ümit Gençer called me, I said, 'Do not read it.' In his first statement, Ümit Gençer said he received the order from the regiment commander, the Chief of General Staff, and the Force Commander, then he changed this statement. When he called me, he asked where the Chief of General Staff was; I said, 'At Akıncı.' Actually, it was not me he was calling. The person he was calling and trying to reach that night was the Chief of General Staff, because he was going to have the declaration read on his behalf. Before me, he had called Akar's aide-de-camp Levent Türkkan; he probably called me when he couldn't reach him. Indeed, Ümit Gençer also had a meeting with Türkkan, who was with Akar at the Special Forces Command (ÖKK) on July 14. Levent Türkkan was asked why he met with Gençer, and he said, 'I don't remember.'"

THE "FETÖ" STUDY CONDUCTED BY AKAR

Orhan Yıkılkan also voiced the following allegations against the accusations that he worked on a plan decided upon and approved for implementation by the organization, and that he prepared the junta appointment list:

"Where is this plan; is there anyone who has seen, heard, or knows of it? There is the Bayrak Operation Plan from September 12. This situation is evidence of the non-existence of the plan. If you say 'FETÖ'; who am I working under, who is working under me? Not only those called coup plotters, but almost all of the victims and complainants, especially Hulusi Akar, have FETÖ allegations and investigations against them. For example, the pilots who forcibly landed the coup aircraft in the air were also dismissed from FETÖ and received sentences. There is a coup that was carried out by FETÖ members on one hand, and prevented by FETÖ members on the other. Akın Öztürk was made number 1 by being told, 'How can you go and meet with the coup plotters?', but nothing was asked of the person who gave those meeting orders to Öztürk. The next day, Hulusi Akar was going to come to the General Staff Headquarters, which was said to be in the hands of the coup plotters. We made preparations for this as well. However, upon the Prime Minister's instruction, he went to the Çankaya Mansion. Again, in the statement made by the General Staff on July 21, it was said, 'We sent Akın Öztürk to Akıncı.' His entire activity is going to Akıncı. He has a messenger and a non-commissioned officer under his command. I don't have a single soldier under my command. I am waiting by Akar's order, I am finding the phones he wants, I am preparing to welcome him at the General Staff in the morning. But I become a member of the Peace at Home Council along with Akın Öztürk."

Explaining that Akar asked them to conduct a study on this issue during a period when allegations that the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) had been seized by "FETÖ" members were becoming widespread, Yıkılkan said, "We did it, we presented it. We stated that the coup was a mass and hierarchical movement, that even if they seized 90 percent of the TSK, they could not carry out a coup because they could not organize due to the cell-type structure, and we gave a report saying, 'But it is also a fact that a coup cannot be carried out that the community opposes.' Now Hulusi Akar says, 'If the coup hadn't happened, we would have purged them all.' Everyone who was going to be promoted in 2016 is the one who has been dismissed today."

THE DELEGATION THAT MET WITH THE COMMUNITY ON BEHALF OF AKAR

Yıkılkan, who was also the Chief of Staff during Akar's Land Forces Command period, explained the following under the heading "The role of the delegation that met with the community on behalf of Hulusi Akar between November 2014 and March 2016 in the process":

"The community has regularly met with the TSK since the past. These are the official ones. Apart from this, there have also been those who established communication. In November 2014, someone came to me and said, 'A delegation is meeting with the community on behalf of Hulusi Akar. Can you confirm this?' I presented it to Akar with concern. He neither denied nor confirmed it; he just said, 'You will not tell anyone about this matter, even if you see it in your dreams, you will not talk about it.' But I got the impression that the meetings were continuing. Until March 2016, for 1.5 years, when I learned that this delegation was bringing and taking messages such as 'we need your support on issues of the coup and the fight against the PKK,' I went to Akar once again and asked, 'Do you know these people?' He was content with saying, 'I don't know them.' I said, 'At your command,' and left. It does not seem normal that he did not do anything despite a delegation constantly doing these things on his behalf since November 2014. If there is forgery, you do what is necessary. After saying 'I have no news,' he still did nothing. What was said in the messages that came was this: 'Our friends are not under our command, but yours. Do whatever you are doing.' Whether Hulusi Akar is telling the truth or lying; as far as I have followed, I do not believe the answer he gave me in March 2016. Even if he didn't get a return, there is a team, there is an event."

CAUSES OF JULY 15

After saying, "What happened behind the scenes of July 15? I will tell you my testimonies and predictions," Yıkılkan made the following allegations:

"In November-December 2015, many coup reports came regarding the same units. In a report given by the MIT (National Intelligence Organization) to the Prime Minister, there was information that four airmen and one general from the Special Forces were preparing for a coup. I told this to Hulusi Akar, he did nothing. The MIT also gave a report about Semih Terzi in February 2016. The Abidin Ünal incident occurred. This was as follows: The President had established a relationship with Abidin Ünal without the knowledge of the Chief of General Staff. By having him followed, he revealed that he went to the Külliye (Presidential Complex) without his knowledge. Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş was someone whom Akar also met with on weekends and frequently gave tasks to. This was an incident that led to a crisis of confidence between the President and the General Staff. It had a great effect on Hulusi Akar. The appointment of a military advisor to the Külliye came to the agenda. The President's contacts outside of traditions and chain of command caused discomfort and led to a crisis of confidence within the state. July 15 is the result of this crisis of confidence. Furthermore, the purging of Abdullah Gül from the state and the AKP, the signs of purging Ahmet Davutoğlu, and the shaky status of Hakan Fidan; these were an inseparable quartet. Hulusi Akar was seized by the worry that 'my turn is coming.' In our private conversations, he said, 'I am no longer in the position of complaining, I am the Chief of General Staff. The President is dragging the country into disaster. If I had a team like those lying in Balyoz with me, I would have solved this matter long ago. I am ready to do my part, make preparations, bring them.' Again, he said to Yaşar Güler, 'The President wants everything to be mine, but at this rate, he will lose everything,' and 'What is the difference between what was done to Davutoğlu and a coup?' I interpreted all these words of his as disappointment."

WHO HAD WHOM WATCHED AND EAVESDROPPED?

Following these allegations, Yıkılkan noted the following:

"One day, Land Forces Command Personnel Chief Major General Ömer Şevki Gençtürk came and asked, 'Is the Commander having me watched, do you have any information about this?' I replied, 'It is possible, I don't know. He is probably having me watched too.' He asked, 'Is he having me eavesdropped?' I said I had no information. Upon this, he said, 'When I and İsmail Metin Temel meet with politicians, we sometimes speak against the Commander due to the situation and tactics. Let him not be suspicious.' I presented this conversation to Hulusi Akar. He gave me some tapes, saying, 'Don't believe everything you hear, take these and read them, then destroy them.' From the tapes belonging to İsmail Metin Temel, Ömer Şevki Gençtürk, and İzzet Çetingöz, who are known as the Tokat Group in the TSK, it was understood that they were having the Commander watched. They found their meetings with retired TSK personnel particularly remarkable and dangerous. I wonder why?"

TSK IMAM AND ADIL ÖKSÜZ ALLEGATION

While Orhan Yıkılkan claimed that Hulusi Akar met with Ümit, codenamed Hasan Demir, known as "KİP Hasan," who appeared above Adil Öksüz and served first as the Land Forces Command imam and then as the TSK imam according to the secret imams indictment, he said, "Could Adil Öksüz have implemented the orders he received from Hulusi Akar through Ahmet Demir? He could have."

Claiming that the then-Intelligence Chief Yaşar Güler introduced this person to Akar while he was the 2nd Chief of General Staff, Yıkılkan said, "You are the Intelligence Chief. Don't you know who you are eating and drinking with? They met with him, they did a bunch of things, but no one is looking at the elephants. There is a trial process that does not want to see the elephants."

As Yıkılkan continued his defense, the Presiding Judge intervened, stating that these were matters outside the scope of the case and asked him to wrap up.

Upon Yıkılkan's response, "I am explaining this in this context; I am being told 'he is a FETÖ member.' I am saying that I did what I did not by the order of the organization, but by the order of the Chief of General Staff," the Presiding Judge warned, "We will not make a decision based on what you tell about others. You are going outside the scope of the case."

Yıkılkan concluded his defense by saying, "I am also saying that I am not an administrator, and that the administrator is elsewhere. I am trying to explain that I have been treated unfairly. However, you see this as outside the scope of the case. Since you do not want to listen, I am giving up on the defense I will make from now on."

News Source: Müyesser Yıldız