Fake Heroes and Real Victims

Anyone who follows the media from different sources, especially social media, will remember. Serife Boz was one of the hero (!) symbol names of July 15. Everyone knew her as the person who transported people to Taksim on the night of July 15, almost as a “Nene Hatun”. Later, it was announced by the reporter who took the photo that Serife Boz did not know how to drive, that she only got into the driver's seat to get a photo taken, and that the photo was taken on July 16, not July 15.

Şerife Boz was just one of the fake heroes of the 15 July incident. There were so many people whose names were not as prominent as her, but who tried to snatch a piece of the state facilities cake by playing the role of "victim hero" in this theater. Some of these appear in the trial of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan, who is on trial in the July 15 General Staff Trial.

So, what connection does Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan have with these people?

One of the prosecution's charges against Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan is the willful killing of 10 people and the deliberate wounding of 45 people. And what is the so-called evidence in Recep Özkan's case? Witness statements, expert panel report and General Staff video recordings, which are the main sources on which this committee's report is based. At this point, we come across fake heroes and real victims whose lives have been ruined by these fake heroes.

As it is clearly stated in the law, the parties or the institutions that have been involved in a crime-damaged case and their employees cannot act as experts in those cases. In this case, this law was not taken into consideration at all, and the complainants involved acted as experts.

The first of these is the Turkish General Staff. Many Generals and Admirals in the General Staff are in the position of complainants in this case.

The second institution is the General Directorate of Security. The General Directorate of Security has two compensation cases against Recep Özkan and it is also a party to the General Staff Case against Recep Özkan. While in detention, Recep Özkan was subjected to torture and ill-treatment for 8 days by the torturers who were employees of this institution.

The third institution is the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation. Since July 15, 2016, TRT has been turned into a propaganda tool by the Erdogan regime, making broadcasts that disregard the presumption of innocence.

Is it possible for the expert committee formed by the people selected from these three institutions to be impartial and to write a final report contrary to the directives of their superiors? Let alone a case heard by the state's judicial authorities, even in a dispute between two families in a village, the arbitral/expert panel is selected from members of other families. But this committee, which prepares a report that will form the basis for the decision of the independent judicial organs of the state, consists of members of the institutions that are parties to the case.

Of course, this delegation does not prepare an impartial report. What is this delegation doing?

Only 2 Hours of 8-Hour Video was Accepted as Evidence - Where is the Remaining 6 Hours?

To give just a few examples that are important and remarkable: They cut and combine the footage of the events taking place in and around the headquarters of the General Staff and bring them together in a way that will serve their purpose, that is, to prove their claims. So, they are mounting.

For example, the camera named KALE-1 is the camera that is located on one of the three main entrance doors of the command floor. Even though this camera has footage from 21.20 on the evening of July 15, 2016 to 05.27 in the morning and witnessed the most intense events during the July 15 night, only 1 hour and 56 minutes of the footage of it was included in the evidence file. More than 6 hours of its footage is missing. Because of the events happened during this missing 6 hours, dozens of defendants are accused of the deaths of two people.

Another remarkable piece of evidence is identification. Identity determinations were made not with objective and scientific methods and measures, but with the "at best" method, to the extent that individuals are known and based on guesswork.

In some images, even though they were in the dark, at a distance of 150 meters, or behind tanks and statues, individuals were identified with ease; some privileged persons, who gave almost biometric pictures to the cameras, were not accused in this case and could not be identified.

Now let's look at the (false) hero of this delegation.

Person Named in Systematic Torture Prepares Administrative Investigation Report!

Colonel Oğuz Tozak:

This person, who was the perpetrator of systematic tortures and illegal interrogations in the General Staff Headquarters, was promoted to Brigadier General and the Deputy Special Forces Command, which was not created before, after this outstanding torture performance and unconditional loyalty to lawlessness.

Witnesses unanimously state that they handed over the footage to Colonel Oğuz Tozak, not to the Prosecutor. The police officer, who was in charge of the Anti-Cyber Crime Branch, who initially located the camera recordings, says that he occasionally received information from Oğuz Tozak and transferred it to the Public Prosecutor, and that the backup was carried out entirely under the supervision and control of military personnel, including Oğuz Tozak and Alaettin Daşdemir. There is a statement on page F-5 of the administrative investigation report: "The first examination of the images was made by two officers under the command of Colonel Oğuz Tozak."

That is to say, hard disks have been dismantled, moved, copied and viewed by unauthorized persons. It is highly probable that the footage was subject to manipulation, and in this respect, it is not undoubted evidence. Evidence is not qualified.

He Died as A Result of The Bullet Fired from His Own Gun

Band Sergeant Major Ziya İlhan Dağdaş died on the evening of July 15, when a bullet from his own gun bounced off the tank. However, Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan was held responsible for the death of this person. In order not to hurt the family of the person who lost his life, without going into the details of the subject and without making any comments, we leave it to you how legal and objective these cases are.

The deaths of 12 victims included in Recep Özkan's case file may be the subject of a separate article. In order not to distract the subject, we will only write the following about this subject for now. In today's forensic medicine, where it is possible to reach the murderer even from a hair, shoe size, or piece of leather, according to the court, it was found to be unnecessary to conduct an investigation on the deaths of these people.

Why were Some of the Alleged Injured Actually Injured?

Let's go back to Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan's case: The story of some of the 45 people who were allegedly injured by Recep Özkan with deliberate attempted murder is as follows:

1. Yahya Kemal Macit:

In his statement on August 11, 2016, he said that he was shot from inside the General Staff, he was injured in his left chest and went to the hospital, the film could not be filmed in the hospital because the hospital was busy, he went home in the morning, two days later he felt pain in his chest, he went to the same hospital and it was understood that there was a bullet in his chest, the bullet was removed, but the bullet remained in the hospital.

2. İbrahim Engeloğlu:

In his statement on September 28, 2016, two and a half months after the incident:

“There was intense fire from the air with helicopters. While I was taking cover, I was shot in the left arm.” he said. The report sent by the Forensic Medicine Institute to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on 10 October also confirms this statement of the person. However, one and a half years later, in his statement to the court on February 14, 2018, he said, “I did not say helicopter. If it had come from the helicopter, my arm would have been cut off. I don't know where the fire came from." Thus, he is trying to make a change of expression.

3. İbrahim Emrebaş:

He stated that he was injured by falling down the bridge at the Parliament Crossing on the night of July 15 but continued to participate in the demonstrations until the morning hours. His pain increased when he got home, he continued to stay at home for 15 days, then he went to Lokman Physician Hospital, and filed a complaint after receiving treatment.

As a result of the examination at Lokman Hekim Hospital, it was reported without any MR or film that there was tenderness in the L1, L4, L5 vertebrae in the lower back. However, other than this person's statement, there is no evidence to support his story. He had no firearm injury. There is no evidence that he was around the General Staff on the night of July 15, or even on the street.

4. Osman Selvi:

There are many stories of courage and heroism in the victim's statement dated 05 August 2016. He claimed that he tried to take over the soldiers in Sıhhiye, that he protected the police in Kızılay, that he was there when the helicopters dropped bombs on the Parliament but he was not injured, and that even though he was tried to be shot in the General Staff Headquarters he helped the wounded there. But lastly, he said that while trying to open the door of a vehicle, a piece of land coming on him opened up the skin on his nose and bled a little.

There are many more false statements and false heroic stories like this one. If we try to write all of them, this article will not end.

But instead of the judges who don't ask them, let's we ask them.

1. Is it possible for a person who was injured by a bullet in his left chest, where his heart is located, to go home without a film being taken because the hospital was busy, to live with this wound, to treat himself, and to leave the bullet in the hospital where it was removed from his body?

2. What kind of a connection can be established between İbrahim Engeloğlu, who was injured by the gunfire from the helicopter, İbrahim Emrebaş, who fell from the bridge and hurt his back (even if it was real), and Osman Selvi, who was wounded in the nose while trying to open the door of a vehicle, and Lieutenant Colonel Recep Özkan? How can he be held responsible and blamed for their injury?

I think you don't need to be a lawyer to see the contradictions and nonsense here. Of course, all of these are normal when the aim is not to eat grapes but to beat the vineyard maker.

Last word:

July 15, which is seen as "a gift from God" for some, portrayed buffoons, hypocrites, and religious exploiters like Şerife Boz, and torturers like Colonel Oğuz Tozak as heroes.

These heroes and their heroism are fake. But unfortunately, all grievances are real.

Hoping to wake up to a Turkey morning where courts are real and are devoted to universal law, where judges decide with their conscience and are not slaves to politics, and where innocence is sought, not the guilt.