Liberal Party Chairman Zübeyir Gülabi Reflects on July 15: “The Debate Over Justice and the Rule of Law Continues”

On July 15, 2016, the Commander of the Air Force, who was responsible for the fighter jets in the air; the Commander of the Land Forces, who was responsible for the tanks deployed onto the streets; the Commander of the Naval Forces; the Commander of the Gendarmerie; the Commander of the First Army, whose troops were on the Bosphorus Bridge; the Deputy Chief of the General Staff, to whom the Special Forces that entered the General Staff Headquarters were attached; and the Chief of the General Staff, who was ultimately responsible for all of them, received no punishment. Instead, they were all rewarded.

The head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), who was expected to be the state’s eyes and ears, reportedly had no knowledge of the coup attempt either. He was promoted and later became a minister.

Meanwhile, five-day conscripts, trainee lieutenants with no troops or units under their command, officers, non-commissioned officers, specialist sergeants who were on leave, and even military students were convicted on coup-related charges.

The President’s son-in-law stated that four aircraft had been prepared to protect against the coup plotters, indicating that they had prior knowledge.

Members of organized crime groups later claimed that they had received weapons from MIT that night and had gone out with a minister to hunt coup plotters. No one questioned the MIT chief serving at the time. The current MIT chief has not raised the issue either.

According to official figures, around 8,000 military personnel were involved in the coup attempt. However, 54,000 military personnel were punished or dismissed.

Even officers and generals who had official reports stating that they were not coup plotters received life imprisonment.

Three million people were investigated. One and a half million people stood trial. Seven hundred thousand people were convicted.

One million people working in the public and private sectors either lost their jobs or were victimized through the confiscation of their property.

We lost democracy, fell into an economic crisis, retirees and workers are struggling with poverty, and the rule of law has become distant and unattainable. The Minister of Justice presents economic prescriptions, while the Minister of Interior takes pride in conducting anti-terror operations against 90-year-old elderly citizens.

The President of Religious Affairs, who reportedly learned of the coup attempt from his spouse, called for the recitation of the sela in honor of the democracy that had died. The MIT chief also allegedly learned about the coup attempt from the President of Religious Affairs, who had heard it from his spouse. The coup began one hour after the MIT chief met with the Chief of the General Staff, yet no one questioned what kind of coordination had taken place.

Police officers who protected the President from the coup plotters and lost their lives are regarded as heroes, while the pilot who allegedly flew the President’s aircraft away from coup-linked F-16s is considered a coup plotter. The coup plotters were already coup plotters. The line between fact and fiction became blurred.

Two hundred fifty-three heroic citizens sacrificed their lives and became martyrs to protect democracy and the President. Even the families of the martyrs later became victims of emergency decree measures.

The regime ultimately declared that day—described as “God’s blessing”—a national holiday.