Fabricated Secret Witnesses of the General Staff Roof Case: Şapka ve Kuzgun

Who Are the Two Secret Witnesses in the General Staff Roof Case?

In his defense in the General Staff Roof Case, Mehmet Partigöç brings up a very important allegation regarding the secret witnesses.

“After all, these two secret witnesses were the secret witnesses at hand. For what? They were the secret witnesses of the investigation (The Conspiracy Investigation) initiated in İzmir; they were the secret witnesses of Okan Bato. But they saw that the events changed; while they were trying to prepare the Izmir case, a new incident occurred, July 15. They thought that we already have secret witnesses at our disposal; they said, let's use these secret witnesses right away. They told them that things have changed, you are secret witnesses. They have two secret witnesses, Hakan Bıyık and Halil İbrahim.”

The names mentioned here, the secret witnesses, are Colonel Hakan Bıyık (Şapka), who was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Foça Gendarmerie Commando Training Command at the time, and Rear Admiral Halil İbrahim Yıldız (Kuzgun), who was the Amphibious Marine Infantry Brigade Commander of the time. Two commanders from Foça, which is the important garrison of the Military Espionage Case. The accusation against them in the General Staff Roof case is “attempting to abolish the constitutional order, being a member of an armed terrorist organization, attempting to abolish the Great National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) or prevent it from doing its duty”. So how could they support this "coup" from Foça? According to Hakan Bıyık's statement, the "coup" was planned in the "known villa" in Ankara Çayyolu. He himself went to Ankara by bus from Izmir, stayed in the villa, but did not support the coup. He claims that those who planned the coup were Mehmet Partigöç, Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, Ömer Faruk Harmancık, Bilal Akyüz and Barış Avıalan, whom he saw in the villa.

Contradictions in Secret Witness Statements

In his statement at the hearing of the General Staff "roof" case on February 22, 2018 Hakan Bıyık said that: “Cihan (K) asked me to come to Ankara urgently on the evening of 6 July 2016 (2nd day of the feast). That night, I took the bus and came to Ankara…” In the continuation of the statement, he said that he left Ankara on July 9. On the other hand, at the hearing held on March 12, 2019, Partigöç asks why the court committee still has not requested the General Staff and lodging camera footage, which will prove where he was at that time. In his defense, Partigöç: “Hakan Bıyık says, he says I saw him there, he was there. Then I'm giving my statement here, I am telling you that I was at work at that time. The first day was a holiday, I am telling you about the places I've been and asking you to examine my phone records. I am telling you to get the military lodging entrance and exit cameras. I don't know if you have done those yet."

Partigöç draws attention to the fact that Bıyık changed his statement after he talked about his whereabouts on the first day of the feast and after. “I say that I was at work. Then this changes in Hakan Bıyık's second statement. He says that I was coming and going. What time was I coming and going, 11 am, 1 am, 3 am, 5 am, was it midnight…”. “… I say that I was at home on the first day of the festival. I say that I went to visit a relative. I say that a guest came later. On the second day of the festival, I was at work. There was a helicopter accident. The entry and exit records of the General Staff are clear, you can see it from there…” 

On the other hand, in his statement, Halil İbrahim Yıldız claims that he had meetings in a villa in Ankara Çukurambar with Vice Admiral Ömer Faruk Harmancık, Rear Admiral Sinan Sürer, Colonel Hakan Bıyık, "İhsan" code named Hasan Coşkuner and many other people whose names he does not know before the coup; but he does not count Mehmet Partigöç, whom he could easily identify, as one among the people he saw. Because of this contradiction, Partigöç says that “when July 15 became the subject, they evolved into secret witnesses. Otherwise, there would be no basis for what they said. Halil İbrahim does not say that he saw me anyway. For some reason, he came to the villa but did not see me; but the other gendarmerie (Hakan Bıyık) saw me.”

In the continuation of his statement, Yıldız: “…They gave me a list. They said that I could do this operation with the names on the list. Later, Hakan Bıyık came to us."

To sum up: Yıldız claims to have seen Bıyık in the villa. Bıyık claims to have seen Partigöç. However, Yıldız cannot identify his circuit mate, Mehmet Partigöç, with whom he attended the military college together. Another example of inconsistency.

Noting that Adil Öksüz was also in the Villa in his statement at the court, Yıldız says that they held a meeting in another house in Çukurambar later on. Stating that he said that he would not be able to perform the task assigned to him in this house, Yıldız states that he left Ankara and returned to İzmir after the meeting. In another statement, he said, “When I saw that bombs were thrown on people that night, I told them that I am not in this business.” Which one is correct? Well, if he gave up in the villa, why would a civilian named "Ihsan" give an order to him on July 15? In his statement Yıldız said: “Ihsan called me on the night of July 15 and gave me the order, “Take out your unit and kill before you die.” Why does someone who always says I'm not in this business goes to a meeting? Why was he given an order even though he says he was not in this business?

In his defense, Partigöç: “… This is such a stupid coup team that they called Halil İbrahim from there. Halil İbrahim, come here, what will you do? Halil İbrahim, we will make a coup, you can go back now. Is that possible?" With this statement, Partigöç rebels against the illogicality of Yıldız's invitation to the meeting allegedly held. So, what critical task was assigned to Yıldız at this meeting, which was allegedly held at the highest level? Let's look at Yıldız’s statement: “I did not know how to control the Admirals and İzmir Türk Telekom Directorate. Harmancık told me that after declaring martial law in Turkey and imposing a curfew, I would easily detain the admirals. I would be able to take control of the İzmir Türk Telekom Directorate at around 10:00 the next day.” Yes, perhaps he is talking about a more critical place than even the palace, the parliament, the ministries, he is talking about “İzmir Türk Telekom Directorate”. Admirals, on the other hand, would be detained after the job was done and control was taken.

They Called Bıyık to the Coup Meeting via Whatsapp!

Bıyık states that Cihan (K) sent him a message on July 5, the second day of Eid al-Fitr, at between 21:00 and 22:00, saying that "you need to come to Ankara urgently." He says that when he asks Cihan why, Cihan responds that the government of the country will be seized and I need to go to Ankara.

It is such a “professional” coup that messages were sent in the comfort of "we will confiscate, let's talk". According to his own statement, Bıyık went to Ankara on July 6, attended the meeting, but left the villa "unaware of his own senior manager", but then was informed of the date of the coup on July 13 via Whatsapp. “After leaving the villa on July 9, unaware of the senior manager responsible for me, I returned to my job in Izmir on July 11. On July 13, I learned through the message Cihan sent on "WhatsApp" that the coup would take place on July 15.” In his statement on February 22, Bıyık contradicts his previous statement of "I left unannounced of my senior manager": "We couldn't leave the house alone. There were vehicles that arranged the commute. Biniş (Harun) helped me to leave the house. Then I left Ankara."

Bıyık: “…many promises were made to me; promises were not kept…”

According to Partigöç, Hakan Bıyık's testimony in the Akıncı trial reveals how promises were made to anonymous witnesses. Partigöç: “…Hakan Bıyık publicly declared what he did when he was re-connected to the Akıncı Case later on. He said that many promises were made to him, promises were not kept, his wife was fired, he was sentenced and he does not speak anymore. Even this is a clear statement of how Hakan Bıyık operates the secret witness institution”.

The Roof Case was concluded and the defendants, who were not allowed to collect any evidence in their favor, were unjustly sentenced to life imprisonment. A “hero” İzmir Prosecutor lost his presentableness when he went bankrupt in the “stock market.” Two secret witnesses from Izmir, who are no longer secret, are very offended because the "promises" are not kept. Two bargainer pashas remained under the beamless roof, one became a minister, the other chief of staff. They pray every day that the roof does not collapse.