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

Defamation campaign against Hizmet condemned by CSOs from across country

A large-scale dark propaganda war is being conducted by some circles close to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against the Hizmet movement and Gülen, particularly since a corruption scandal erupted in December of 2013 in which three Cabinet ministers’ sons, many state bureaucrats and renowned businessmen accused of giving bribes in exchange for favors were implicated.

PKK terrorism, piety and the Gülen movement

Adem Palabıyık*, March 29, 2012 A Chinese proverb notes that if you kill somebody, you intimidate thousands of others. To this end, the assaults against the Zaman offices in Europe by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) supporters in recent times appear to be relevant to this proverb. Intimidation… But why the Gülen movement? The reason for […]

Burc Schools achieve 13 medals in AMC 8

350 thousand students, in total, from 6000 schools around the world participated in this year’s AMC 8, recognized as the world’s most prestigious math contest involving middle schoolers. Among the participating Turkish schools, Adana Burc Schools’ students achieved a notable success by winning 13 medals. Turkey, South Korea, China, US, Canada, Russia and Taiwan constitute the award winning countries in the event.

Police raid Gülen-inspired schools in Adana despite ministry regulation

The Adana Police Department early on Thursday coordinated with inspectors from several ministries and other institutions to conduct raids on private schools, dormitories and prep schools established by volunteers inspired by the Gülen movement, despite regulations stating that only the Education Ministry may perform such inspections.

Gülen: Alevi-Sunni brotherhood should not be marred by bridge controversy

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has put emphasis on Alevi-Sunni brotherhood in comments on an ongoing controversy over the naming of a new bridge to be built over the Bosporus after an Ottoman Sultan who Alevis say is responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of Alevis in the early 16th century. In a […]

Terrorist PKK targets Gulen movement’s schools in Hakkari

Schools opened by the Gülen movement, inspired by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen, in the eastern province of Hakkari are often threatened by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to an interview by the T24 news portal. The first private school the Gülen movement in Hakkari was opened in 2007. There are currently 300 students at the school, Hatice Avcı College.

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

Fethullah Gülen: “Disbelief may prevail, but tyranny will not” (Interview in Asharq Al-Awsat-II)

60-year old man covers 309 km in 17 days to protest son’s arrest on coup charges

Sacrificing a legend for a shoebox*

Fethullah Gülen in Indonesia

Exclusive: Turkey, Kosovo violated fundamental rights of expelled teachers, UN body says

Bosnia and Herzegovina Court rules that Keskin must not be deported to Turkey

Lawyer rejects alleged Gülen remarks published by leftist daily

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News