Turkish intelligence staged a rocket attack on Erdoğan’s palace to rally public support

Turkish soldier is firing a rocket in a military exercise. (Archive Photo)
Turkish soldier is firing a rocket in a military exercise. (Archive Photo)


Date posted: January 24, 2020

Abdullah Bozkurt

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) appears to have staged a rocket attack on the palace of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan three days after a failed coup in order to bolster the perception that the threat of a putschist attempt was still alive and to rally public support for the government.

The incident took place on July 18, 2016 at 11:45 a.m. according to the police, when a military rocket was reported to have been fired at the fence next to Gate No. 3 of the presidential palace. The force of the blast bent the wrought iron bars of the fence, the report stated. The bomb squad was dispatched to the scene to examine the damage and collect fragments of the rocket from the palace garden. No casualties were reported.

A forensic examination of the rocket debris including “an electronic circuit board and motor parts” cited in a bomb squad report indicated that they were from a “US-made surface to air [XM41] series shoulder-fired … rocket.” The report was compiled on October 10, 2016 but submitted to the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court by Police Chief Ibrahim Özturk almost two years later, on May 2, 2018.

It turned out that the rockets were phased out by the Turkish military and the redundant munitions were turned over to MIT some 15 years ago according to Necip Erkul, a lieutenant who worked as an expert in military criminal laboratories before he was falsely charged with involvement in the failed coup.

The report reinforced the widely held belief that the limited mobilization on July 15, 2016 was nothing but a false flag operation plotted by MIT at the direction of Erdoğan, who wanted to consolidate his power under a newly instituted executive presidency and persecute his opponents. Erdoğan played the victim card in the aftermath of the abortive putsch, and his intelligence service appears to have orchestrated the rocket attack in broad daylight on the most secure location in Ankara, which was monitored by security cameras and police and intelligence officers round the clock.

Click below link to read more.

Source: Nordic Monitor , January 23, 2020


Related News

EU anti-terror chief: Gülen network not terrorist organization

The EU doesn’t believe Fethullah Gülen’s network is a terrorist organization and is not “likely to change its position soon,” the bloc’s counter-terrorism coordinator told Reuters in an interview published Thursday.

African firms signal increased trade at TUSKON meeting

A total of 127 companies from 11 different countries in East Africa are participating in the Gaziantep summit, which started on Feb. 9 and will run until Feb. 12. The Turkish and African businesspeople held roughly 5,000 bilateral business meetings. TUSKON has intensified efforts to help more Turkish firms branch out into promising African markets over the past five years.

NPR’s Interview with Gulen – He Denies Involvement In Coup Attempt

From his exile compound in the Poconos, the cleric accused by the Turkish government of leading a failed coup attempt last year, Fethullah Gulen, denies any involvement.

A February 28 tactic from the PKK

The people of the nation know Gülen, who has spoken for years from the lectern at mosques, and they know those on the other side, too. If the shadows of the weapons cast over these people were only to be lifted, we would see whose side they would stand on.

Bank Asya shares skyrocket after trading resumes

The Islamic bank has been in the spotlight since Turkish media reported that state-owned companies and institutional depositors loyal to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had withdrawn TL 4 billion ($1.8 billion), or some 20 percent of the bank’s total deposits, because the bank’s founders include sympathizers of cleric Fethullah Gülen, a former-ally-turned-critic of Erdoğan.

Fethullah Gulen: Turkey’s Eroding Democracy (op-ed in NY Times)

It is deeply disappointing to see what has become of Turkey in the last few years. Not long ago, it was the envy of Muslim-majority countries: a viable candidate for the European Union on its path to becoming a functioning democracy that upholds universal human rights, gender equality, the rule of law and the rights of Kurdish and non-Muslim citizens.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Political thunder from Turkey rumbles all the way to New Orleans

Stay course in Gulen case

Germany investigates possible anti-Gulen spies

5,166 Turkish citizens sought asylum in Germany during January-November

What Is Next In Turkey?

Abuja hosts 2016 Int’l Festival of Language and Culture

Afghan minister: Afghanistan will continue to support Turkish schools

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News