Tantalizing Military Terrains and Late-Purchased Armored Vehicles

In the hearing of the Ankara 17th High Criminal Court on 16.04.2019 and 17.04.2019, Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ, who was accused of planning and organizing a nationwide coup within the scope of his membership in the Peace at Home Council, made striking claims about military terrains and armored vehicles that were deliberately delayed to be purchased before July 15. Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ stated that one of the reasons he was on the liquidation list in the July 15 plot was that he did not approve the opening of military lands for zoning, and then told what he experienced in this process. Stating that military lands cannot be transferred to anyone without the approval of the Operations Division, Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ said:

“Do you know who was responsible for this? It was me and my Department Head. We were under very serious pressure to make a final decision regarding the transfer of these troops from Ankara and Istanbul, as the barracks located on very valuable lands were claimed to be not needed in terms of operations. Armored Troops Headquarters, Infantry School, Küçükyalı, Urfa, much more than I can count … the market value is around 40-60 billion dollars. … Later, the General Staff Logistics Presidency informed the Ministry of National Defense about the relocation of the Armored Troops in Etimesgut/Ankara to Tuzlukçu-Yunak-Günyüzü without obtaining the consent of the Land Forces, but after I examined the file, I understood that the land was not suitable for the Armored Units School. They said that I should have approved it, but when I didn’t, the blame was on me.

Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ said that most of the generals didn’t care about the military terrains. Only two divisions objected and there were also those representatives of the armies who objected. But they forced us to sign the agreements. But Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ didn’t want to be a part of this and take the responsibility. He objected and did his part for this nation.

Then, AKYÜZ stated that an emergency meeting was organized after Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Hulusi Akar and said, “Why don’t you give us these lands?” After indicating that he prepared 5 reports for the west side of Istanbul, AKYÜZ said, “If there is an earthquake in Istanbul, God forbid, there is no place to set up a Tent City right now. This is a national issue; this is beyond the Land Forces. Please don’t approve this.” AKYÜZ said that there was a lot of pressure. “60 billion dollars is very tantalizing. When the amount is too big, the discomfort is too big. Do you know how much is the budget of the Ministry of National Defense of the Turkish Armed Forces? 20 billion dollars a year. That money is like 3 Armed Forces budget.”

After indicating that the Ministry of National Defense of the time, Ismet Yilmaz, came to the meeting on Sunday with 23 files related to military lands, Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ finished his statement.

In his statement at the 17th High Criminal Court, Staff Colonel Bilal AKYÜZ claimed that although there was a great need for wheeled armored vehicles in the southeast of Turkey, Hulusi AKAR, the Commander of the Land Forces of the time, did not approve the purchase to prevent the tender to go to the Otokar Koç Group.

“Who manufactures Cobra armored vehicle? Otokar Koc Group. We urgently needed 300 of them, but Hulusi Akar as the commander of the Land Forces didn’t give approval. My department head was angry, the troops needed these vehicles, soldiers were dying, but he didn’t approve it. Even though the money for the vehicles was ready, it was approved one and a half years later after Yasar Guler intervened. But we lost one and a half year and we lost many soldiers during this time.

Also, Staff Colonel Bilal AKYUZ criticized the transfer of the Altay tank project to the BMC. The prototype was produced by the Koc Group but it was given to BMC. “Can BMC produce this tank? It is not possible.” 

If we put it as Binali Yildirim named it, if the July 15 Project did not exist, these decrees could not be issued, and military lands could not be opened for construction. Of course, those who opposed these would not have paid such a heavy price.