Turkey trial seeks to account for six critical hours during coup
As the trial of key Turkish military officers allegedly involved in the failed coup enters its second week, the public awaits answers to questions that have lingered since the July 15 event.
We're still waiting for answers. It's been 10 months, but questions persist about the July 15, 2016, abortive coup in Turkey. Unlike others who saw it as a coup attempt, I classified it as a kamikaze-like military uprising, because the putschists who tried to hijack the state authority that night didn't have a profound ideology binding them together, a strong motivation or clear political goals.
I had previously said that participants in the military uprising, whose driving engine was the Gulen movement, were officers with anti-government sentiments, those with pragmatic goals and career-advancement goals, those who were blackmailed into joining and some who unquestioningly obeyed commands.
Such a military uprising should have been dealt with swiftly, with evidence-driven investigations that focused on what happened that night. Ankara didn't do that. The post-July 15 crisis process was stalled and became an increasingly politicized maze.
The most important question awaiting an answer about the uprising concerns timing. At 2:30 p.m. local time, the National Intelligence Service (MIT) knew major military action would be imminent that night. The Chief of General Staff knew about it at 4:30 p.m. Why, then, didn't they move to counter the uprising? We have been hearing from overt sources that an army helicopter pilot identified as "Maj. O.K." who had been pressured into joining the uprising by Gulenists, changed his mind and warned MIT headquarters at 2:30 p.m. According to witness testimony in the trial that began last week, Maj. O.K. clearly warned MIT officials that there was going to be a massive, and probably bloody, military action.
