Türkİye

Gendarmerie head gives details of July 15 coup night

Saying he will sue the perpetrators, Galip Mendi gives dramatic testimony of his abduction by a trusted aide

25.07.2016 - Update : 26.07.2016
Gendarmerie head gives details of July 15 coup night

Istanbul

By Durmus Kocak, Serdar Acil, Aylin Sirikli, and Baris Kilic

ANKARA

The head of Turkey’s Gendarmerie gave dramatic testimony Monday of his abduction by a trusted aide the night of the July 15 failed coup, and even a brush with death, speaking to Ankara prosecutors.

Gen. Galip Mendi was rescued in an operation in the aftermath of July 15 failed coup and was relieved of duty last week due to illness.

The night of the coup he was attending a wedding when a group of soldiers took him to Akinci air jet base, northwest of Ankara, by force.

He said his aide Murat Yilmaz, who had worked for him for eight years, was among those soldiers.

Mendi was kept at the air base that night blindfolded and handcuffed, but he could tell he was somewhere near Akinci by hearing jets taking off and landing.

"I could hear the bombing too," he said.

On the morning of July 16, he heard some people saying that they "could not manage it [the coup]." Then a sergeant came to Mendi and said:

"We have to leave here immediately, because they will kill you."

They got into a car to leave the base, where a guard team was waiting for them.

Later, Mendi went to brief Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was in the office of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.

Mendi said he would sue the perpetrators for the harm they caused.

Stating that he could not see any clues that a coup was imminent, Mendi said: "Everything seemed quite normal."

Turkey went through a deadly coup attempt on July 15, when rogue elements of the military tried to overthrow the country's democratically elected government.

The coup saw jets bomb key points in the capital, including the Turkish parliament and the presidential complex.

Tanks were also on the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, even on the Bogazici (Bosphorus) Bridge to block the crossings from the city's Asian to European sides, announcing that the army had seized control of the country.

Senior officers who refused to participate in the attempt were taken hostage, including Chief of the General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, who was later rescued from pro-coup soldiers.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the coup attempt, which martyred at least 246 and wounded more than 2,100 people.

The country accuses U.S.-based preacher Fetullah Gulen and his Gulenist Terror Organization or Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY) of being behind the failed coup and has called for his extradition to Turkey to face trial.

* Humeyra Atilgan Buyukovali contributed to this report from Istanbul.


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