Interesting allegations regarding Necdet Özel and Zühtü Arslan!..

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Ali Yazıcı, a former staff colonel who served as Erdoğan's chief aide-de-camp during the July 15 coup attempt, alleged that after Necdet Özel left his post as Chief of General Staff, he wanted to become a chief advisor at the Palace, but Erdoğan did not accept this. Yazıcı also claimed that an order was given regarding the then-President of the Constitutional Court, Zühtü Arslan, stating, 'When he arrives, no one will welcome him, speak to him, or engage with him.'

Defense statements against the final opinion have begun in the case involving 14 defendants whose files were separated regarding injuries on July 15, after it was understood that they were not members of the so-called Peace at Home Council, following a partial reversal decision by the Court of Cassation, despite being tried in the General Staff 'Roof Case' on allegations of being members of the 38-person so-called Peace at Home Council.

In the case heard by the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court at the Sincan Prison Complex, where the prosecutor requested the acquittal of 10 defendants, former staff lieutenant colonel Ertuğrul Terzi was the first to present his defense.

Stating that they were considered members of the so-called Peace at Home Council and held responsible for killings and injuries as a result of the decision made by the previous panel under political pressure, without evidence and unlawfully, Terzi said, 'Even if an acquittal is requested for me, this does not change the fact that these deaths and injuries occurred. We soldiers were accepted as potential criminals, but the whole world knows that we are not the perpetrators. 10 years have passed, ballistic reports have not been prepared or have been hidden. This is covering up complicity.'

''THEY REMOVED PARTİGÖÇ'S NAME AND WROTE MINE''

Former Lieutenant General İlhan Talu, the then-General Staff Personnel Chief, emphasized that the most vivid witnesses to the fact that he had no knowledge of the coup were Hulusi Akar and Yaşar Güler, but that they were not heard as witnesses, and said the following:

'The only reason I am here is that I am a lieutenant general and personnel chief. I was brought to this post because I was not a member of the community. We carried out joint work with the MIT, the NSC, the State Supervisory Council, and Police Intelligence. Initially, there was a list of 36 people to be retired at the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ). The requirements for the list of 129 generals and admirals were also to be fulfilled over time. When information came that Mehmet Partigöç might be a member of the PDY, I asked a second time because I couldn't associate it with him; they confirmed it again. When I was detained after July 15, I was arrested based on a statement sent from Hatay while I was waiting to be released. We learned later that Mehmet Partigöç's name was in this statement; they removed it and wrote mine. When I was arrested, MASAK showed all the houses in the complex where I lived as being under my name. Even though I had a single account and 6 thousand liras in it, it was reported that I had 21 bank accounts. Millions of people cursed me. I filed a criminal complaint on the first day, but everyone turned a deaf ear.'

THE VETERAN'S REACTION

Former Major General Osman Ünlü, whose name appeared as the Ankara martial law commander on the July 15 so-called assignment list, noted that while the big force commanders and generals were nowhere to be found, he was the one who made the first statement against the coup to TRT, that he met with the then-Minister of National Defense 15 times, and that he prevented the events from escalating by meeting with the General Director of Security and the Ankara Police Chief, and that Ankara Police Chief Mahmut Karaaslan, even if he did not come to the hearing, provided information to the TBMM commission that he carried out anti-coup activities.

Meanwhile, only one of the July 15 veterans, Necmettin Utuş, followed the hearing. Although the Presiding Judge did not want to give him the floor because he had made a statement before, Utuş stated that while trainees were being punished, the real culprits were made complainants, and said, 'How can we believe in this law in a place where those who praised FETÖ at the Turkish Olympics and in Parliament are ministers?'

NEW ALLEGATIONS FROM THE FORMER CHIEF AIDE

Ali Yazıcı, the former chief aide-de-camp to the Presidency who is among those whose acquittal is requested, said at the beginning of his two-day defense, 'Presidential lawyer Süleyman Ayhan had two questions, but he did not come,' to which the Presiding Judge stated that the Presidency is not a complainant in this file.

Repeating in his defense that his loyalty to Erdoğan continues and that 10 years of persecution will not change this, Yazıcı said:

'Whatever I told on the first day, I am saying the same today. If I had known about the coup, I would have prevented it or done what the coup required. There is no one who knows the Palace better than me, who knows the mentality of the Palace better than me. The methods used in the Palace were applied to me. I did not kill anyone, nor did I give orders to kill, neither before that night, nor on that night, nor after. An advisor has come out and is announcing the election date. What is happening? For the sake of our children's future, please listen to me in a closed session. Except for those who have foreign powers behind them or those who are a minority, everyone can be here one day. May God not give an opportunity to the minority mentality. I was not appointed, I was chosen personally by the President. This is my difference from other chief aides. Let the President find out who tortured me in the Palace. If I thought of an assassination, may God damn me. Like the 2nd Abdulhamid, he is surrounded. All my letters are coming back. The state has come down on me and my family with all its ruthlessness. Crime is personal; why is this persecution being done to my wife and three children? If I were a man of America or Israel, you could not have kept me in prison for 10 days, let alone 10 years. I received an offer, saying, 'We will get Salih Ulusoy out, let's meet with you too.' I did not accept. I reject the acquittal. Being acquitted in this case does not lift the persecution on my family. I was held responsible for the Council, for every flying bird. I am still being strip-searched. Is there anyone who has come here and not been strip-searched, them and their family? I was receiving psychological treatment, and when they said, 'our staff officer is thinking of getting out by faking madness,' they cut off my treatment. I know the Palace, even if I get a thousand madness reports, it won't let me go. They sent word to my family that 'he will commit suicide.' Because of my faith, I never thought of suicide, I would not think of it. I understood, they were going to kill me, they were going to make it look like suicide. I am requesting a delegation from the TBMM and the Ministry of Justice, I will only ask for a little bit of humanity. My only request is that my family be given their rights and I live humanely in prison. I did not kill or injure anyone, but if the terrorist leader is called 'sir, founding leader'; if he has a campus, a status, then I must be the terrorist. The PKK members in prison are treated with kid gloves.'

July 15 veteran Necmettin Utuş reacted with tears during Yazıcı's defense, saying, 'Isn't it persecution to kill 48 police officers, to burn them alive? My friends burned alive, we buried their ashes,' causing tension. Yazıcı replied, 'May God damn those who massacred those people,' and asked Utuş to say 'Amen.'

HOW DID THE OTHER AIDES ESCAPE?

Saying, 'I say I didn't do it. How can I defend against lies and slander?' Yazıcı continued as follows:

'Zeki Üçok, who took the questions himself and went to the USA, claimed that I took the questions. I won the Işıklar Military High School in 196th place. If I had taken the questions, I should have been first. They determined that I was a FETÖ member in April 2016, but they continued to entrust the President to me. The Palace knew about both the coup and the assassination, why didn't they call me and want to learn the situation? All the other aides who came from the forces were appointed, I am the only one chosen. Even if I am a private now, I am the last chief aide-de-camp chosen and taken by the leader of the century himself. The President asks a professor from GATA, whom he later made a rector, about me, 'Can a life be entrusted?' He says, 'You can entrust everything.' I am one of the two people who enter the President's presence without permission. If it had crossed my mind, no one would be alive. The President is in my hands, why would I do things like a movie? One of the issues I am accused of is planning the coup with the aides. Those aides were released and acquitted. The aide chosen and brought by the then-Minister of Interior Efkan Ala said he should have been on leave on July 15. He protected and looked after him both before and after the coup. He is still on duty, he became a hero. If I told how the aides got out, they would get into trouble.'

WHO ASSIGNED EMİN GÜVEN?

Regarding the accusation that he went to Çiğli to assassinate Erdoğan, Ali Yazıcı said, 'I never told this,' and voiced the following allegations:

'Chief advisors, advisors, the private secretary, the protocol manager directed me to Çiğli. I went with former lieutenant colonel Emin Güven. But they did not try me together with him. He also confessed that he was a FETÖ member. Emin Güven died of a brain tumor. While asking for my forgiveness 3 months before his death, he said, 'I had to take you to Çiğli. Zekai Aksakallı assigned me to control you. He also had a connection to the Palace. They threatened me with my children, they promised me release. I didn't know it would be like this.' If this Emin Güven incident is investigated, there are terrifying things. That's why I don't know if it's a reversal for the benefit of the law, but I want a retrial. It was said that I spoke with Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş on a potato line. No, I did not speak, and I still do not speak.'

''MAY GOD NOT LET ANYONE FALL INTO THE SITUATION NECDET ÖZEL FELL INTO''

While Yazıcı alleged that former Chief of General Staff Necdet Özel came to the Palace 5-10 times with the request to become a chief advisor, but Erdoğan did not accept it, he explained the following:

'On his last visit, no one welcomed him, he came to my room. While he was almost confessing his sins, he told me how I was chosen. I wanted him not to tell, because they are unreachable, powerful men for us. He was shaken, finished, exhausted. He said, 'I resisted a lot not to give you, I said our system is like this, but he took you. When he took you, he called the chief aide who was your predecessor, told him that he was a man of the Palace, that he was an AKP member, and said, 'don't tell him anything, don't orient him.'' He told a lot of things, I was shocked, I said, 'May your life be spared, commander.' What had changed? What changed was the situation he fell into. May God not let anyone fall into this situation.'

PLAN REGARDING THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PRESIDENT

Claiming that judicial independence is talked about, but that he witnessed many times that instructions were given to the presidents of the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, and the Court of Cassation, Yazıcı made the following allegations regarding the then-President of the Constitutional Court:

'He suffered a lot. I hope he is not branded as a FETÖ member. Something was planned regarding him. A state dinner was going to be given, it was said, 'No one will welcome him, speak to him, or engage with him.' He came, and indeed no one welcomed him. What courage; I went, welcomed him, and asked if he had any orders. He was very surprised. This happened twice. I took Necdet Özel and brought him to him. I said to him, 'The Constitutional Court President is here, you can talk about the Uludere file.' They started chatting. The Constitutional Court President said, 'You are not guilty, but we cannot do anything. Like the sword of Damocles, they are preventing us from making a decision.'

At the end of his defense, Ali Yazıcı claimed that the Ergenekon-Balyoz cases, the 'FETÖ' purge, and July 15 were carried out according to a plan, and that he witnessed these plans in Jerusalem, in the Palace, in the USA, and in Mecca, and said, 'We said for 10 years that a trap was set for us, but the July 15 ambush is a trap set for the President and the people. I say, 'Erol Olçok's assassination was planned,' you say, 'No.' According to their plans, 2026 is a critical year. I hope the coming days do not prove me right.'