Hakan Fidan Footprints at Akinci Base and July 15

On 16 July 2016, the presence of Turkish National Intelligence Agency personnel in the vicinity of the Air Forces 4th Main Jet Base Command (Akıncı) in the morning hours was officially confirmed by MİT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) in a letter [1] submitted to the Parliamentary Investigation Committee on 22 May 2017, almost a year later, and it was stated in the relevant letter that MİT personnel “supported the taking of necessary measures to prevent the take-off of aircraft”.

MIT Personnel Were Not There for Air Defense Purposes

In the investigation related to the release of Adil Öksüz, Gendarmerie Sergeant Ahmet Camgöz gave the following statement to the prosecutor [2]:
"We all—our District Gendarmerie Commander, the District Police Chief, Police Station Chief Superintendent Ahmet, and I—headed together in two vehicles to the Barracks Police Station of the Kazan District Gendarmerie Command, which is near Akıncı Airbase.

While heading to the Barracks Station around 11:00-11:30, we saw a parked black new model Honda CR-V vehicle on the side of the road, and we stopped, suspecting something. Commander Murat Bozdoğan approached the vehicle to ask for identification. I pointed my gun at them to show them it was serious. The driver exited the vehicle, told us to stay calm, and showed his ID, which was an MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) ID. Inside the car, besides the driver, there were 4 or 5 more people, but I couldn't get the license plate number, and I don’t think anyone else in our team did either. Once we saw it was an MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) ID, we allowed them to leave. They even asked Commander Murat Bozdoğan, 'where are the escapees from?'"

Based on Sergeant Ahmet Camgöz's statement, it was revealed that there was no air defense system in the vehicle in which the MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) personnel were present. This raised questions about the purpose of MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) personnel being in the vicinity of the base.

In the official letter submitted by MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) to the Parliamentary Investigation Committee, it was stated that the personnel were in the vicinity of Akıncı Airbase for air defense purposes. The fact that this information was only provided about a year after the event raised strong suspicions that MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) had been preparing for the July 15th coup attempt in advance.

This situation raises several questions:
· Why was the MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) official letter sent only after all the investigations into the coup trials were completed and indictments finalized, rather than right after the incident?
· Why is the presence of this personnel being hidden under the pretext of air defense?
· Was MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) personnel expected at the Akıncı airbase at that hour?
· Why has this issue not been investigated despite requests?

MIT Officer “Ecevit Akbaba” Provoked People at Akıncı Airbase

Testimonies from some witnesses in the incidents that took place at the Akıncı Airbase gate revealed that the statements alleging an MIT (Turkish National Intelligence Agency) officer named Ecevit Akbaba provoked the public were removed from the Akıncı indictment. This fact was uncovered through the statements of two injured individuals in the Polatlı indictment.

Who Ecevit Akbaba is, why he was provoking people at Akıncı airbase, and why he was pushing untrained civilians to enter the base remain matters of curiosity.

References

[1] Letter dated May 22, 2017, and numbered 10.000.06.000.105.2/50-97549206 presented to the Parliamentary Investigation Committee by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency.
[2] Testimony of Gendarmerie Sergeant Ahmet Camgöz, given as a suspect in the indictment numbered 2017/3779 [Adil Öksüz] under Investigation No: 2017/48645, File No: 2017/21722 by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.