Debate over 'Does the Peace at Home Council exist or not' in the July 15 trial!

Müyesser YILDIZ / 12punto.com.tr

The trial of the members of the so-called Peace at Home Council, who are alleged to have carried out the July 15 coup attempt, on charges of injuring 3,000 of our citizens, continued.

In the fifth session of the case, which was separated from the General Staff 'Main Case' and is being heard by the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court at the Sincan Prison Complex, it was observed that Mehmet Dişli had been transferred from Ankara to Kandıra Prison while the defendants were chatting among themselves via SEGBİS before the panel took their places.

The following dialogues then took place:

A defendant: When did you leave, commander?

M. Dişli: I have been here since August 25.

A defendant: You have moved closer to home.

Second defendant: What do you mean closer? He went home.

Third defendant: Did you request the transfer?

M. Dişli: No, I didn't request it. It just happened. Suddenly, in the early hours of the morning, they said, "You have a transfer," and I came here.

At the beginning of the hearing, the Presiding Judge announced that the General Staff 'Main Case', which serves as a stay-of-proceedings factor for this trial, had been partially upheld and partially overturned by the 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation, and that the review of appeals regarding 3-5 charges is ongoing, and asked for the Prosecutor's opinion on this matter and new requests for participation.

The Prosecutor requested the separation of the files of defendants Ali Yazıcı, Ayhan Çarık, Doğan Öztürk, Ertuğrul Terzi, İlhan Talu, Murat Aygün, Osman Ünlü, Ramazan Gözel, and Osman Kardal, who are not accepted as administrators by the Court of Cassation decision, and Ahmet Bican Kırker, Halil Gül, Mehmet Şahin, Özcan Karacan, and Ünsal Coşkun, who are accepted as "unknown administrators".

HINT AT DİŞLİ FROM THE FORMER CHIEF AIDE

After the Prosecutor's opinion, the Presiding Judge took the statements of the aforementioned defendants.

Former Presidential Chief Aide Ali Yazıcı, one of the defendants, said the following:

"What can I say? Truths have no value. Our presiding judges become members of the Court of Cassation. If you have money, you go to a prison 45 minutes from your home; if not, you are sent to Diyarbakır. If anyone is looking for the truth, they should apply to the last chief aide. Everyone is deceiving each other. I don't want to be separated; I want to remain an administrator. Because foreclosure cases will continue. I am guilty, punish me."

Murat Aygün: "Other courts are sending compensation cases as if the Peace at Home Council exists. Write to these courts that we do not have the status of administrators."

Osman Kardal: "Because of the allegation that I was an administrator, my wife was dismissed by decree-law, and the persecution against her continues. They made me a 'dangerous prisoner' because I am an administrator. Now we have been acquitted, but nothing of hers is coming back."

Defendant Ahmet Bican Kırker criticized the fact that names such as Hulusi Akar, Hakan Fidan, Metin Gürak, and Zekai Aksakallı were not heard as witnesses in this case, drew attention to the injustices committed with the phrase "think about your end," and stated that even if he were acquitted of everything, he did not want his file to be separated from this case.

WILL NOT ACCEPT RETURNING TO DUTY

Kubilay Selçuk, the former Çiğli Base Commander, who was given the floor because he had requested to be excused from the hearings in the afternoon, said "A soldier does not bow" when it was stated that his voice could not be heard and he was asked to lean into the microphone, and then spoke as follows:

"I was with Hulusi Akar on the night of July 15. I asked for him to be heard as a witness. The heartless man could not come. July 15 is officially a heinous political coup trap; it has no other name. This was done to break the back of all institutions, especially the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces). 4-5 years ago, I said that the target after Syria was not Iran, but Turkey. Mr. Bahçeli has just woken up. Syria is not a success, do not be mistaken. You will come to me eventually. They issued a Mobilization Law. It is clear that they will call us to duty, but I do not accept returning to duty with my rank. Let them acquit me and compensate for my damages; only then will I return."

Defendant Halil Gül said, "I want to play dead and not participate in the trial," while Özcan Karacan asked, "whether the collapse of the Peace at Home Council means the collapse of the entire system."

A GENERAL WAS NEEDED

Akın Öztürk, the former Air Force Commander, who is stated to be the number 1 of the coup, emphasized that his name was added to the Peace at Home Council later and said, "A general was needed there. They stuck it on and it stayed. For 8 years, not a single soul has asked anything about the Council. How am I acting as an administrator in a council that doesn't exist?"

Muhsin Kutsi Barış, the former commander of the Presidential Guard Regiment, also claimed that July 15 was a setup, that this setup was implemented by intelligence agencies, and while accusing Hulusi Akar, Yaşar Güler, and Zekai Aksakallı, he also said that Süleyman Soylu was not a hero and that it is known when he arrived at TRT.

Former staff colonel Murat Koçyiğit spoke as follows:

"The Foreign Minister met with a terrorist who had a 10 million dollar bounty on his head. The man was a terrorist, and in one day he became a head of state. We don't know who will be what tomorrow."

'YOU LANDED ON YOUR FEET AGAIN'

At the beginning of the afternoon session of the hearing, Mehmet Dişli's prison change came to the agenda again. It was heard that Mehmet Partigöç, whose name was under the coup declaration, said to Mehmet Dişli via SEGBİS, "You landed on your feet again."

Defendants Cemil Turhan and Mehmet Dişli pointed out that this case has no indictment and that the trial is being conducted based on the indictment of the General Staff 'Main Case'. Dişli also explained the following:

"In the Court of Cassation's upholding decision, it is stated that no document regarding the Peace at Home Council was found, and that it was planned to fill the council if the coup was successful. Since the coup was not successful, isn't it wrong to punish the council members? If there is no document, why were we tried as council members? In the end, it was pinned on 17 people, including me. According to what were these 17 people determined? I proved with camera recordings that I was not guilty, but the Court of Cassation upheld the sentence given."

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM

Mehmet Partigöç, who connected via SEGBİS from Tekirdağ Prison, stated that despite his request, he was not brought to the morning hearing again, and that he was not made ready in the courtroom despite the court's interim decision, saying, "One must congratulate the justice system. You have brought it to such a state that those participating via SEGBİS are more numerous than those in the courtroom. You have become reluctant to bring the defendants to the courtroom. There is no such thing in our history."

PRESIDING JUDGE: I WILL NOT SAY THE COUNCIL EXISTS OR NOT

After the defendants, the statements and requests of their lawyers were taken.

Fırat Alakuş's lawyer argued that a sign reading "Peace at Home Council trial" was hung on the door of the courtroom, that this violated the presumption of innocence, and that there was no such council, and requested that the sign be removed. The Presiding Judge replied as follows:

"We have nothing to do with the sign, I didn't see it. I am not saying 'The Peace at Home Council exists or not'; we speak with our decisions. I don't know if it says 'The Council exists or not' in the reasoned decision. I don't want to get into such a polemic."

Ayten İzmirli, the lawyer for some of the defendants, also stated that these cases cannot be resolved without bringing Hulusi Akar, Hakan Fidan, Yaşar Güler, Metin Gürak, Süleyman Soylu, Zekai Aksakallı, and Aleksander Dugin, whom she said threatened the government with a veiled threat in a tweet he posted recently, to the hearing.

After the statements were completed, the Presiding Judge announced that the decision was made to separate the files of 14 defendants, to make the defendants who want to be present at the hearing ready, and to wait for the results of the cases where the primary perpetrators are being tried, and that the hearing was adjourned to September 8.