Turkey’s Main Opposition Party Reiterates In Report July 15 Was ‘Controlled’ Coup Attempt
Date posted: June 12, 2017
A report drafted by Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 has repeated an earlier claim made by the party’s leader suggesting that the coup attempt was a “controlled” one and that there were some Turkish authorities who knew about the coup plans but did not take any measures to prevent it.
The 307-page-long report, prepared by CHP deputies Zeynel Emre, Aykut Erdoğdu, Sezgin Tanrıkulu and Aytun Çıray, was revealed at a news conference in Parliament on Monday.
“The treacherous coup attempt on July 15 was a controlled coup that was foreseen, not prevented, and whose consequences were abused,” said Çıray as he spoke at the briefing.
CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has been claiming for some time that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan knew about the coup plan but they did not take the necessary measures to prevent it.
“The treacherous and bloody coup attempt was an unexpected, shocking and appalling development for the innocent citizens of the country. However, there were some who knew that this treacherous coup attempt would take place and those who waited for it,” says the report.
The report recalled that Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan met alone for 6.5 hours on July 14.
The CHP’s report on the July 15 coup attempt also refers to columns penned by pro-government journalist Fuat Uğur from the Türkiye daily, who wrote about coup plans in columns published on March 24, April 2 and April 21, 2016.
“These articles written by Fuat Uğur and similar columnists months before the coup attempt were an obvious source of intelligence for MİT. It is unthinkable for MİT not to have any idea about what Fuat Uğur knew,” says the report.
The CHP criticized a recent report prepared by the AKP government on the July 15 putsch on the grounds that it did not reveal the political phase of the coup attempt and aimed at covering up the coup rather than shedding light on it.
The military coup attempt on July 15 killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, the AKP government along with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
According to a report by the state-run Anadolu news agency on May 28, 154,694 individuals have been detained and 50,136 have been jailed due to alleged Gülen links since the failed coup attempt.
Source: Turkish Minute , July 12, 2017
Tags: Erdogan’s Reichstag Fire | Military coups in Turkey | Turkey |
Related News
Inside the eye of Turkey’s political storm, in rural Pennsylvania
A moderate preacher rooted in the Sufi mystic tradition of Islam, Mr. Gulen is known for emphasizing interfaith dialogue. But Mr. Erdogan calls Mr. Gulen and his followers a “cancer” and a “terrorist organization” that is building a “parallel state.” The rancour is personal.
Angela Merkel, Meeting With Erdogan in Turkey, Emphasizes Free Speech
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany emphasized the importance of freedom of opinion in talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Thursday, during a visit meant to help improve frayed ties between the two NATO allies.
What Erdogan and Khomeini Have in Common
The Turkish secular elite who have long feared an Iranian-style theocracy in their own country may finally be seeing the worst of their fears come true. The widespread purges under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following last month’s failed coup attempt against his government suggest the Turkish state is moving toward authoritarian Islamist rule of the sort that Iran introduced in 1979.
Fear and paranoia still stalk Turkey two months after the failed coup
The official government narrative is everywhere, from the Twitter accounts to the dominance of the state-affiliated and pro-government press and TV in the wake of media crackdowns. The same words and phrases have been repeated endlessly by the AKP and their supporters until they become almost meaningless – Get Gülen. Gülen. Gülen. We are democracy. Democracy. Democracy. That is how it is, and there is no room to consider anything else.
Will Gülen movement become a political party?
Esteemed Fethullah Gülen frequently underlines: “Forget getting a share of political power. We cannot accept control of the world even if it is presented to us on a gold tray because this would create disappointment among those actively supporting our cause. And people would think ‘They’ve also been deceived by the love of position and sense of interest. All these [voluntary] efforts were for the sake of getting a share in the political power’.”
Kalashnikov-carrying police raid Gülen-inspired girls’ dormitory
Police officers carrying Kalashnikov rifles conducted a raid at a girls’ school dormitory in eastern Van province on Sunday, a move that is seen as part of an ongoing government-orchestrated operation targeting the faith-based Gülen movement, popularly known as the Hizmet movement.
Latest News
In Case You Missed It
