The coup plotters’ new tactic

Interesting things are happening in the cases in which the team that masterminded last year’s failed coup is being tried. 

Those on trial are not under the spotlight as the suspects of the bloody coup attempt that left 249 people dead and 2195 wounded, but rather as people who are trying to prove that it was a controlled coup. There needs to be a fair trial to unearth all the truth about the coup. But no tolerance should be shown to the perception operation, which the coup plotters are conducting in an organized way. This trial is of crucial importance. We need to be wary of the coup plotters’ efforts to sit on July 15’s suspect seat. 

Equally important are the developments unfolding about a major, identified only as O.K., who came to the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) to inform in advance about the coup. 

Similarities with military coup staged on May 27, 1960

I have observed some similarities with the case of the “Nine Officers,” which preceded the May 27, 1960 coup. 

Before the May 27 coup, Major Samet Kuşçu informed that a coup by a group, in which he was a member, would happen. The group, led by Faruk Güventürk, was apprehended in a very short time. What happened next? Kuşçu was sentenced, while the coup plotters were acquitted. And what happened after their acquittal? They took their place in the brain team that realized the coup in May 27.

I hope the same will not happen; where O.K will not get a sentence, while the coup plotters will be set free.

This time there is a trial of a coup that failed to succeed. Obviously the suspects have the right to defend themselves. But the suspects are following an interesting tactic. They are trying to create the impression that July 15 was a controlled coup. And they are trying to have those objecting the coup rather than those supporting it to be tried. One is recounting the measures the Chief of General Staff should have taken, saying that there were things he could have done to prevent the coup from happening. 

One of the soldiers, Cemil Turhan, said he was issued to implement the martial law during the coup by an order from Yaşar Güler, the deputy commander of the Chief of General Staff. Turhan said on the night of July 15 that Major Mehmet Akkurt acquired a CD and said a message needs to be issued under the instruction of Güler. He said, “I did not have the chance to look at the CD,” adding that he called Mehmet Partigöç, who told him to put into force the commander’s instruction. 

Akkurt, who brought the CD, is actually the aide of Güler. Akkurt incapacitated Güler in the early hours of the coup. Partigöç is one of the leaders of the coup. Güler is one of the biggest victims of the coup. He was blindfolded, handcuffed and incarcerated in the Akıncılar Airbase. 

After getting rid of their initial shock, the coup plotters started to play a new game. The government should be cautious with the trials instead of going after some journalists, waiters and so on, which only strengthens the hands of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ) in Europe.