Does the Defense of "We were Given an Exercise Order on July 15" Aim at Getting rid of Crime?

“We Were Given a Military Exercise Order”

The defense of "we were given an exercise order" has an important place in the defense of the defendants in the July 15 trials. The courts, on the other hand, has been deciding that the aim was the coup and that this defense was aimed at saving oneself from crime. Well, what is the case in reality?

If the courts want to demonstrate that the aim was the coup, they must clearly put forward the order of the coup attempt. However, in many cases, orders such as exercise, terror alarm or dispatch to a safe zone were actually given. For example, all the students of the Air Force Academy have unanimously been saying that they were ordered to exercise or to be evacuated to a safe zone. The courts, on the other hand, are committing a legal massacre, saying that even if it were, you should have understood that it was a coup. Is the exercise order really inappropriate for that night?

Hulusi Akar's "No training, there is exercise" Orders

First of all, the acceptance that it has been passed into a new phase with the pressures and directions of the Turkish Armed Forces' number 1 Hulusi Akar on the exercise practice explains the issue of not being indifferent to this order. In this context, Private Secretary of Hulusi Akar, Colonel Ramazan Gözel’s court testimony reveals important information.

“Another issue was that Hulusi Akar set up a timeless, unprepared, purposeful, realistic exercise system for two years for the authenticity and verification of exercises in the Land Forces. He tried this himself while he was the commander of the 28th Brigade and the 4th Corps. Mr. President, this is also important, not for me, but for the July 15. There is no training, training is over, there will always be exercises. He completely changed the well-established training exercise system of the Armed Forces, saying that the training will be included in the exercise. I am not saying these things because they are wrong. What he said is: training is over, there is exercise for 12 months, for one year. People are so accustomed to the word of 'education,' if you accidentally pronounce it next to Hulusi Akar, you're done. ‘What are you doing? We are doing military training, no, you are doing military exercise.’”

Garrison Commander Lieutenant General Metin Gürak's Orders of "Carry Out Reconnaissance in Sıhhiye and in the Ministries" Before July 15

Likewise, it is known that the 4th Corps Commander at the time, Lieutenant General Metin Gürak, asked the battalion commanders to carry out reconnaissance in Sıhhiye, the ministries region and its vicinity in his orders given before and after the exercises toward social events. It was stated in the defenses in the courts that with orders, such as “do you do unannounced exercises, do you measure the recovery time, call the troops/personnel without notice and measure their reaction, establish a SMS communication system,” Gürak took his subordinates to such a condition that if an alarm order was given, they would equip themselves, receive ammunition, and automatically arrange themselves in the main entrance of their barracks.

While many of the staff thought "What kind of an incident can happen in Ankara, so that they can ask for our help while there is so much police force", the exercise order had been ordered many times since March 2016. Most of the personnel thought that there was another alarm/exercise order on July 15, because, the last time they had been ordered, they were ordered to be ready to leave the barracks with vehicles in order, personnel armed and ammunition received. As a matter of fact, the Support of Law Enforcement Forces in Social Events law was also enacted on July 14.

Consistency in the Statements of Personnel Who Cannot Communicate with Each Other in Prison

In most of the July 15 trials, the courts say that the defendants are in an agreement and that they use defenses such as "Terrorist attack alert was issued" "We secured the barracks," "Exercise order was given" to get rid of the crime. But in order for this agreement to take place, the defendants must have prior communication with each other. In addition, it is not plausible that the defendants, many of whom have been in an environment of pressure and ill-treatment, agree on the same defense.

However, the fact that Hulusi Akar had special orders and follow-up for each of these titles before July 15 gives an important idea both in terms of the reality of the defenses and the natural acceptance of the orders given that night. At the same time, his efforts that night shows that the most important part of the July 15 trap, that is, "forming the image of a soldier in the field" was fulfilled step-by-step by Hulusi Akar.