Hulusi Akar's Close Protection Officer Describes That Day

For a long time after July 15, Hulusi Akar was remembered with a belt mark on his throat, and it was reported in the media that he was detained by “coup soldiers” and that they used force against him. The defendant in the umbrella trial, Special Forces Team Personnel Adnan Arıkan, who provided protection and security for Akar while being transported to Akıncı Air Base in a helicopter, stated that the events did not unfold as claimed andexplained what actually happenedthat day.

Arıkan supports that he and everyone else present acted entirely under the orders of the Chief of General Staffwith the following statements;

“Even when he was leaving the General Staff from gate 1A, everyone was following him, when he slowed down, everyone slowed down, when he stopped, everyone stopped, when he continued, everyone continued, and he kept giving orders. We boarded that helicopter as the commander's protection team, that's how we were assigned.The so-called commander in distress asked for the cap of the uniform, and the guard he ordered, Staff Sergeant AbdullahErdoğan, who was dressed in a suit, I think,did as ordered in a hurry and delivered the cap to him.”

Salute to the commander in distress

In his statement, Arıkan explains that when they landed, he realized they were at Akıncı Air Base upon seeing the runways and fighter jets taking off. After landing, he said they were greetedby a few air force personnel who escorted them to a building, which he later learned was the base command headquarters. The situation at the entrance to the building revealed the continuation of commandand control.

“Professionally equipped personnel were secured at the entrance and around the building. As Hulusi Akar entered, a soldier standing on honor guard moved into a salute position and saluted him."

Tea, Coffee, Nuts

In the continuation of his defense, Arıkan states that Hulusi Akar was offered nuts, tea and fruit juice by the soldiers just like the treatment General Abidin Ünal confirmed during the trial. He also had a phone in his room that allowed him to maintain continuous contact with the outside world. Arıkan questions how such privileges and authority could be granted to a commander who was supposedly "captured" and why Hulusi Akar has never once come to court to testify.

A "Full" Medical Reportfrom the Infirmary

Arıkan, while addressing Hulusi Akar’s medical report, which was reflected in the press, stated that the report was being used as a tool in perception management operations as if it were evidence. He emphasized that the location where the report was issued wasn’t even a hospital. Instead, it came from the First Level Medical Examination and General Staff Clinic, commonly referred to as the “infirmary,” located at the General Staff Headquarters, where Hulusi Akar has command. He pointed out the absurdity of the expressions used in the report with the following statement:

"The following statements in the report written by Public Health Specialist Navy Medical Major Levent Karaardıç are mocking human intelligence. The section on the patient's complaints is as follows: pain whenpressing on the back of the rightshoulder, redness on the front of both wrists, and pain when pressing on the nose."

Arıkan states that this is the first time he has seen pain with pressure in a report and that the doctor has prepared a report with forced findings, and that the final note in the report stating that Akar was not in life-threatening condition left no doubt as to how seriously the report could be taken.

Salim Sancak