DETAIL
Coup plotters headed toward the Akıncı Air Base.
MUST SEE
The great assassination plan failed.
Putschist soldiers who had prepared for the assassination of President Erdoğan at the Çiğli Main Jet Base took action. As the two helicopter pilots in Çiğli did not want to take on the task, a group of putschist soldiers headed by Brigadier General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş took off to Çiğli with a one-hour delay and headed toward Marmaris.
After the information that President Erdoğan, who took off from Dalaman, would go to Istanbul was conveyed to authorities in Istanbul, Istanbul Police Chief Mustafa Çalışkan ordered Special Operations teams to conduct an operation on the Atatürk Airport’s Air Traffic Control Tower. The operation was completed at 02.28 a.m. and putschist soldiers were detained.
The assassination team that took off from the Çiğli Main Jet Base arrived at the hotel where President Erdoğan had been staying around 03.00 a.m. As helicopters carrying the assassination team could not land because of the dust, the team landed by means of a rappel and blockaded the hotel. During the clash, Mehmet Çetin, a presidential guard, and Nedip Cengiz Eker, a police officer at the Marmaris Police Department, were martyred, while nine other police officers were injured. After the clash between the assassination team and the police, the team heard that President Erdoğan was not there and escaped the hotel.
Because of the coup attempt by the Fetullah Terror Organization (FETÖ), Turkish Airlines (THY) cancelled a total of 925 domestic and international flights.
General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, who led the special teams’ raid on President Erdoğan’s hotel during the July 15 coup attempt, claimed that Major Şükrü Soymen, one of the soldiers who had organized the attack, had said him, “Get ready, we will have fun this week” five days before the coup attempt.
Major Şükrü Seymen, the organizer of the team that attacked President Erdoğan’s hotel in Marmaris and then escaped, accused General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş in the first testimony he gave to the police. Seymen asserted that he had followed the orders of Sönmezateş during the attack and that he had no affiliation with the organization.
Lieutenant Pilot Serkan Çoban rejected to take off the helicopter that was aimed at attacking President Erdoğan’s hotel. He told what had happened on the night of the coup attempt. He said if they had taken off by force of arms, he would have taken the chance to kill everyone in the helicopter by switching off the engine while the helicopter was in the air.
During FETÖ's July 15 coup attempt, Special Forces teams along with Battle Search and Rescue and Underwater Defense teams attempted to assassinate President Erdoğan and were provided with three helicopters.
BREAKING POINT
The heroism that destroyed the plan to seize the Special Forces.
Special Forces 1st Brigadier Commander Brigadier General Semih Terzi, along with a team of 40 people, took off from the Diyarbakır 8th Main Jet Base and reached the Ankara Akıncı Air Base. General Staff Special Forces Commander Lieutenant General Zekai Aksakallı, who had escaped the ambush, heard of Terzi’s plan to seize the Special Forces Command. When Aksakallı phoned the Special Forces Command Headquarters, he learned that it had been seized by FETÖ-member soldiers.
Aksakallı talked to Sergeant Major Ömer Halisdemir, who had been serving as his bodyguard at the Special Forces Command, eight times during the coup night and ordered him to kill Colonel Ümit Bak and Semih Terzi in their last conversation. Halisdemir killed the putschist General Semih Terzi who had come to the Special Forces Command by a helicopter at 02.16 a.m. Halisdemir was martyred by coup plotters right there.
Sergeant Major Ömer Halisdemir, who was martyred during the FETÖ/Parallel State Structure (PDY) bloody coup attempt on the night of July 15, is one of the most important figures who changed the course of the coup attempt. FETÖ-linked General Semih Terzi, who had been serving in Silopi, arrived at the Special Forces Command by helicopter around 02.16 a.m. Special Forces Commander Lieutenant General Zekai Aksakallı told Halisdemir, “My son, you are the honor of that office, do not surrender it.” Halisdemir took his weapon and mingled with the coup-plotters who got off from the helicopter. An officer going out from the headquarters welcomed Terzi who was approaching the building.
Right then, Halisdemir pulled his gun and fired three times on Terzi. Terzi fell to the ground and Halisdemir ran toward the woodland near the headquarters. Meanwhile, coup-plotters along with Terzi opened fire on the back of Halisdemir 15 times. It was Major Fatih Şahin who fired the first bullet on Halisdemir 12 times. Terzi, who had been shot by Halisdemir, was brought to the headquarters by the coup-makers. Terzi stayed at the headquarters nearly 30 minutes and was brought to the Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GATA) where he died.
Sergeant Major Ömer Halisdemir, who changed the course of the July 15 coup attempt and became the symbol of anti-coup resistance, followed the order of Special Forces Commander Lieutenant General Zekai Aksakallı, knowing that he would be a martyr.
Putschist soldiers entered Taksim Square and began besieging the Republic Monument. They fired guns into the air to disperse the people who were rising in number in a short while.
The people of Konya poured out onto the streets in the same hours. They gathered in front of the Konya Governorate and rushed into the airport in a convoy that included a number of trucks. They gathered at the Konya Airport and the 3rd Main Jet Base.
Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım connected to NTV’s broadcast once again at 02.55 a.m. Defining coup-plotters as the members of the terror organization, Prime Minister Yıldırım said that this attempt cannot be ascribed to any soldiers serving within the Turkish Armed Forces.
Yeni Şafak Editor-in-Chief İbrahim Karagül connected to TVNET’s live broadcast by phone for the second time. Stressing that the national will frustrated the civil war scenario of FETÖ elements within the Turkish Armed Forces, Karagül said the attacks conducted by coup plotters were unprecedented in the world.
MUST SEE
Historic speech at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
The National Intelligence Organization (MİT) made a critical statement against the FETÖ’s treacherous coup attempt. MİT Press Counselor Nuh Yılmaz stated, “The coup has been repelled.” Joining a live TV program, Yılmaz said, “The coup has been repelled, we are starting to return to normal. Now, we will start pinpoint shooting. Coup plotters are being neutralized one by one. This issue will not be concluded until morning. Everything has returned to normal at the MİT. Our people should not end resistance, as this is an attack against our democracy. They almost built a wall of flesh in front of all critical institutions.”
In the same hours, an F16 fighter jet belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces downed a Sikorsky helicopter used by coup plotters. In the meantime, fighter jets which conducted low-altitude flights over Ankara during the night carried out the first bomb attack on the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, injuring some police officers and Parliamentary staff. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ made a historic speech at Parliament.
Putschist soldiers who raided the General Staff Headquarters martyred one of the civilians who had entered there in order to repel the coup. After having being martyred, his body was dragged on the ground.
Colonel Ahmet Tosun ordered Pilot Hasan Hüsnü Balıkçı and Pilot Uğur Uzunoğlu to bomb the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The bombardment broke the windows around the honor gate into small pieces and caused great damage in the building.
While Parliament was being bombed during the July 15 coup attempt, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ made a historic speech, saying, “Parliament should not be closed, what we must do is die here.”
Chief of Air Staff General Abidin Ünal, who had been arrested by coup plotters during a wedding ceremony at the Istanbul Moda Sea Club, was first brought to the Sabiha Gökçen Airport and then to the Akıncı Air Base by a CN235 CASA airplane. He was detained with his hands tied and eyes closed.
They took 17 generals hostage
Chief of Air Staff General Abidin Ünal was arrested by coup-plotters during a wedding ceremony at the Istanbul Moda Sea Club on the night of July 15 and was brought to the Ankara Akıncı Air Base by helicopter. According to Ünal, those who had arrested him said, “My commander, we are ensuring your security.” He answered, “I did not give you such an order, from who do you receive orders?”
Air Force Commander Gen. Abidin Ünal was taken hostage at the Moda Sea Club where he was attending the wedding of Lieutenant General Mehmet Şanver's daughter.