Indictment reveals Turkey coup timeline, but mysteries remain
A mountainous indictment in Turkey's coup attempt case leaves a lot to the imagination despite its heft.
Despite a recently issued 2,700-page omnibus indictment, many questions remain unanswered about the July 15 military uprising in Turkey. The parts of the indictment supported by telephone records and camera recordings, and the documents that reached the news media, answer many questions but also leave some critical ones untouched.
About 221 suspects stand accused of participating in the incidents at the chief of staff headquarters. Lawyers who have seen a copy of the indictment told Al-Monitor it will be the basis of other indictments that will follow. The first part of the document broadly summarizes the background of the military uprising and coup attempt, and systematic efforts of the Gulen movement to infiltrate the military since the 1980s. In the rest of the document, preparations for the uprising are summarized with corroborative evidence, testimonies of the suspects and victims, telephone records, and military and civilian documents. It also identifies 38 members, all at the rank of lieutenant colonel and higher, as being in the “Peace at Home Council,” the alleged brain trust of the coup.
Reports say a separate indictment is being prepared regarding Akinci air base near Ankara, which emerged as the central base of the coup where most of the council members operated. With this indictment, the relationship between the Peace at Home Council and the Gulen movement is to be fully exposed.
The omnibus indictment names Kemal Batmaz, Harun Binis Hakan Cicek and Adil Oksuz (who is still on the lam) as the civilian pillars of coup operations at Akinci and claims they were even issuing instructions to generals that night.
