Turkish pro-coup commander says he only followed orders

ISTANBUL

One of the Turkish army commanders arrested over Friday’s failed coup has told prosecutors he was only following orders.

According to testimony given by Brigadier Ozkan Aydogdu to Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and obtained by Anadolu Agency, the commander of the 2nd Armored Brigade in Istanbul said he was first informed of the “action plan” on July 13, two days prior to the coup attempt.

“The martial law plan contained information about the locations to be secured by the military units under my command,” Aydogdu said.

The locations reportedly included Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and the Asian side of the Bosphorus Bridge, among others.

Aydogdu said his troops were also tasked with the reinforcement of the 1st Army Headquarters and the Riot Police Department in Istanbul’s Uskudar district, on the city’s Asian side.

“I received the written order at around 6:30 p.m. It did not have a wet signature, but it was signed by the General Staff, and it had a classification number,” he said.

“I immediately informed my troops, and ordered them to secure the given locations,” he went on to say, adding tanks “loaded with ammunition” took off right away.

“Later on, two of my battalion commanders called me on the phone to say that they were not able to proceed due to heavy traffic, and civilians started climbing on the tanks.

“I told them to fire a few shots in the air if necessary to scare the civilians away,” he said.

Aydogdu said he only learned of the coup attempt in the early morning hours, when he saw on TV that Chief of Staff Hulusi Akar, who he thought gave the order, was saved after being held hostage.

“I heard his anti-coup remarks. Then, I got a signed message from the 3rd Army Corps Headquarters, calling on all military troops to withdraw,” he said, adding he surrendered to police who came to arrest him shortly after.

Aydogdu denied having any connections to the “illegal structure named the Fetullah Terrorist Organization", commonly referred to as the ‘parallel state’, saying he only followed the orders given to him.

"In the plan, I was assigned as the Deputy Commander under Martial Law. I only followed an order which I believed was true because the chain of command requires that you duly execute orders,” he concluded.

Friday’s attempted coup saw rogue elements of the military attack parliament, the presidential palace and other state institutions; the violence led to the deaths of at least 240 people.

The government has blamed the plot on the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, allegedly led by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, who had previously been accused of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the administration through a network of supporters in state organs, known as the ‘parallel state’.

*Hale Turkes contributed to this report from Ankara.