Notes from the officer who started the resistance on July 15: He resisted the FETÖ members, Soylu retired him

Ersin Eroğlu/ 12punto.com.tr

In front of the Gendarmerie General Command...

Güven Şağban, Nurettin Alkan, Ali Demir, and Aziz Yılmaz had come to stop the coup attempt without receiving orders or instructions from anyone. Brigadier General Ahmet Hacıoğlu, whom they had notified, also arrived at lightning speed, and they became five. They were all department heads at the Gendarmerie General Command, but the soldiers who were under their command just a few hours ago were no longer listening to their instructions. They were standing before them with long-barreled weapons. They were giving consecutive orders to the soldiers to stop the coup, but they were receiving the response, "You cannot give us orders."

RESISTANCE TO THE COUP BEFORE THE PRIME MINISTER AND PRESIDENT SPOKE

While Güven Şağban was trying to give orders to those who did not want to let them inside in front of the guardhouse to make them give up, his voice was lost between the response "You cannot give us orders" and the sound of gunfire. During that scuffle, Colonel Güven was separated from the three friends he had come with. Five people apprehended him and took him inside the guardhouse.

Yes, four colonels made the first intervention against the coup attempt in Turkey, and one of them was Güven Şağban. Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım had made his first statement at 23:02, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at 00:20, but hours before they made their statements, the colonels had already begun clashing with the coup plotters.

NOTES OF COLONEL ŞAĞBAN, THE FIRST TO RESIST THE COUP

Colonel Güven Şağban recounts:

"I tell them, 'I am your commander. I am the person in charge here. These people are staging a coup. You will not listen to their orders. You will listen to our orders.' But they are interfering with us. They are not opening the headquarters door. They are clashing with us and they took me hostage. They also wounded Nurettin Alkan in the arm."

The headquarters of the commanders who could not get inside was a mosque, and Colonel Güven was now a hostage. Colonel Güven had said the following about those critical hours:

"While I was being taken as a hostage, I fell to the ground with the lieutenant who was taking me as a result of gunfire. While getting up, I warned the lieutenant repeatedly: 'Do not comply with them. Look, tomorrow you will all be tried, you will be guilty. Our state is great. It knows how to defeat you all. Do not listen to their orders.' Upon this, they wanted to cover my mouth. That evening, they had gathered the duty personnel on duty at the headquarters in an amphitheater. They took me to them as well. I called out to those inside: They are staging a coup. Do not comply with them. They had gathered them there by saying 'there is a cyber attack.' Of course, the children there learned the truth. Inside, there was also the Head of the Police Counter-Terrorism Department, Turgut Aslan, and his driver.

HIS WEAPON DID NOT FIRE

When I said this, Erkan Öktem, who was leading the coup in the Gendarmerie, came. When he said to me before drawing his weapon, 'You will answer to us now,' I said, 'You cannot talk to me like this. You will call me 'Commander'.' Meanwhile, my hands are tied and there are guards around me. I told them, 'You will listen to my orders.' Upon this, Erkan Öktem drew his pistol and wanted to shoot me. He cocked the pistol and pulled the trigger. It was divine providence, the weapon did not fire. Later, he removed the bullet from his pistol. When the friends, including lieutenant colonels whom I had just warned, shouted 'What is happening there?', he left me and walked towards them. He shouted, 'Be quiet, or I will shoot anyone who makes a sound.' He also sent me to sit by the wall. That was the situation inside the headquarters. Once I came and warned them, there was no one left there who did not know that a coup was being staged."

'THEY TOOK TURGUT ASLAN DOWN FIRST, THEN ME'

They took Colonel Güven to the hall on the upper floor. He was made to sit by the window with his eyes blindfolded. A little later, they also brought Turgut Aslan and his driver. Meanwhile, the clashes outside had intensified. Shots were being fired from inside to outside, and from outside to the headquarters. Güven Şağban continues:

"I was caught in the middle. We waited there until morning with my hands tied behind my back. From time to time, Erkan Öktem would come and go, giving instructions. We were also hearing Erkan Öktem's instructions over the radio. Meanwhile, around 01:00, the sela (funeral prayer call) was recited. The public was shouting 'Soldiers to the barracks.' Erkan Öktem was asking them over the radio to fire on the public, etc. Around 06:00 in the morning, Erkan came again. Our eyes were covered, but we felt that the day was breaking. He said, 'Take these down too.'"

Güven Şağban thought he would be killed at any moment. Şağban also describes those critical hours as follows:

"When Erkan Öktem said 'Take these down,' I thought they would take us to another barracks. Because the clashes were continuing outside. The sounds of bombs never ceased. When I recognized him by his voice, I said, 'Erkan, take us wherever you are going to take us, but take us to the toilet first.' When Erkan replied, 'You won't need a toilet where you are going,' I understood that the situation was very serious.

They started taking Turgut Aslan's driver, Turgut Aslan, and then me down. We are descending from the third floor to the ground floor. Beside me is the lieutenant seen in the picture holding my arm. Now, since my eyes are blindfolded, I thought about what I could do, etc. I had struggled a bit at night and tried to loosen my hands like this. I thought if I struggled a bit more and untied my hands, I would neutralize the person next to me. For this reason, I started walking slowly and increasing the distance from those in front. That child next to me says, 'Walk fast. The gap is widening.' Erkan Öktem had taken Turgut Aslan and his bodyguard out to the garden from the right side to execute them. Of course, since we couldn't catch up and the lieutenants didn't know the barracks, when we went down, the lieutenant couldn't understand where they had gone out. Meanwhile, bombs were being dropped. When the windows broke, there was panic. They took me and brought me down to the garage. Therefore, we were saved thanks to that while Turgut Aslan and his bodyguard were being executed. After this, the police operation had already begun."

HE RESISTED THE FETÖ MEMBERS, SOYLU RETIRED HIM

Following the police operation, Güven Şağban and the other hostages were rescued in the morning hours of July 16. In the following years, Güven Şağban, Ali Demir, Aziz Yılmaz, and Ahmet Hacıoğlu, who made the first intervention against the coup, were retired one by one.

And Güven Şağban, who survived after the weapon of FETÖ member Colonel Erkan Öktem jammed on the night of July 15, passed away at the Ankara City Hospital, where he had been receiving treatment for some time. Güven Şağban's illness in his respiratory tract and lungs was known.

One of the first commanders to resist the coup on July 15 passed away on February 19, 2024. About five months have passed since his death.

A book on my desk at the 12punto News Center. The notes of the late Güven Şağban were published as a book by Kırmızı Kedi Publishing House under the title "Yaşadıklarımın Çığlığı" (The Scream of What I Lived Through). There is no signature in the book that came from the publishing house... The editing of the book was undertaken by the owner of the publishing house, Haluk Hepkon.

Güven Şağban ends his book as follows:

"I am in the hospital due to my chronic lung failure while writing these lines. I am aware that my condition is quite critical. I don't know if I can overcome this process. If I cannot, greetings to all my friends! I entrust this book to them as well. Let it be accepted as a scream of what I have lived through! My last word is, may the homeland be safe! May the Turkish nation exist forever!"