Did Süleyman Soylu and Efkan Ala give the orders to the Police on July 15? Police officers recount that night...

8 years have passed since the July 15 coup attempt. 

Then-Minister of Labor Süleyman Soylu had claimed that he was among the leading cadres who entered and rescued TRT with a group of approximately 20 people, while then-Minister of Interior Efkan Ala had stated that TRT was taken by Police Intelligence officers under his own orders.

Süleyman Soylu had relayed that he received a phone call from his cousin Sadık Soylu, who said the atmosphere was favorable for taking over TRT and that TRT could be taken if he arrived at the building. 

'THIS IS THE ORDER I GAVE'

Efkan Ala, in response to Süleyman Soylu's statements while a guest on a television program, had said the following:

“At the cost of destroying TRT, because I know the impact of these things in such coup attempts, at the cost of destroying it, if you cannot get inside, strafe them, use whatever you have, and destroy the building, I said. This is the order I gave. And Police Intelligence is already right across from TRT…

Including those intelligence directors we dismissed, these FETÖ members had also gone there to take delivery of the place. What we understood later is that they had communicated among themselves and gathered, and went to take it. Our current Ankara Police Chief, who was the head of that place at the time, immediately apprehended and detained them, and when my order arrived, they went and took TRT. In other words, Police Intelligence went and Police forces took delivery of TRT, cleared it of those scoundrels…”

WHO GAVE THE ORDER?

Despite the statements by Soylu and Ala, on that night when no one could be reached, Director General of Security Celalettin Lekesiz gave the following order to the 81 provincial Police Chiefs at exactly 21:15:

“- Our police will never surrender to the coup plotters, and will not be surrendered.

- The military will absolutely not be allowed to enter our buildings.

- The police's weapons depots will be opened immediately. Long-barreled weapons will be distributed to personnel.

- The surroundings of military garrisons will be surrounded by police.

- The coup plotters will not be allowed to go outside."

'WE DID EVERYTHING OURSELVES'

According to the report by Saygı Öztürk from Sözcü; the then-Deputy Director General of Security responsible for Counter-Terrorism, Mustafa Gülcü, described that night as follows:

“None of those in a position to give orders were around. But now they are talking. Now, none of those who say ‘I did this, I did that’ were there. We did everything ourselves. There was no minister or undersecretary at our head saying ‘Do this like this.’ Director General Celalettin Bey held a meeting. Then he went to the presidential complex. We were talking on the phone. Then our connection was cut off.

THEY ARE WRITING SCRIPTS

Everyone is writing scripts now regarding the night of July 15. I absolutely did not speak with the minister or the undersecretary in any way on that night. Because they were not around. Since the protection of the Parliament was also under my command, I went when the first bomb exploded. The second bomb exploded while I was there. They call the basement of the Parliament a ‘bunker.’ It was not a bunker or anything. Everywhere was dusty, a dump where scrap items were thrown. I met with the deputies there. But no one gave me an order. No one said ‘Do this like this.’ My conversations with the director general and his orders are true, but other than that, I did not receive orders from any government official.”

'THAT IT WAS NECESSARY TO GIVE ONE'S LIFE IF NEEDED...'

I asked Mustafa Gülcü, “Did you believe that the coup attempt would be suppressed that night?” His answer was exactly as follows:

“Not that it could be suppressed, but I believed that this fight had to be fought. If not, I will become a martyr, my friend. If these men are going to govern Turkey, there is no point in living in such a Turkey. I had no concern that it could not be suppressed, but I did not know how long it would take, in how many hours, how many days, how many weeks we would take control of the situation, and provide physical dominance, but I knew that it was necessary to oppose it, and to give one's life if needed, or to take a life. I mean, I was that aware of it."