15 июля

HOW IT HAPPENED ?

Saga Of July 15

F-16 jet was used in the coup attempt.

F-16 jet was used in the coup attempt.

TIME : 23:50 LOCATION : Diyarbakır

What happened especially in air space in Diyarbakır on the night of July 15 was one of factors determining the course of coup attempt. 6 F-16 jets were seized by coup plotters in Diyarbakır 8th Main Jet Base Command and these jets were used in the coup attempt. The fighter jets seized by coup plotters flied away from Diyarbakır although the tower ordered not to fly. The fighter jets that were taken to Akıncı Air Base in the operations centre position bombed Grand National Assembly and citizens. Operations Section Chief of Diyarbakır 8th Main Jet Base Command Senior Colonel Özkan Edip Akgülay who was in command at that moment ceased the flights at the airport. He rejected the order of coup plotters to force the plane of Minister of Interior Efkan Ala to ground in Malatya. He did not allow the departure of the military unit that would support coup plotters in Ankara. During the coup attempt, the military cargo plane that carried Brigadier Semih Terzi who was in charge of special forces and killed by non-commissioned officer Ömer Halisdemir, himself got martyred, and his co-conspirators took off without permission from the base in Diyarbakır. It was found out that court house in Diyarbakır was surrounded by rebel special forces, guards of gendarmerie and corps commander armed with heavy weapons on that night. Coup plotters stepped back owing to determination of Kamil Erkut, Chief Prosecutor of Diyarbakır. After the coup attempt, tens of soldiers including Commander of 2nd Combined Air Operations Center Major General Atilla Darandeli, Commander of 8th Main Jet Base Command Brigadier General Deniz Kartepe, Assistant Secretary General of Air Force Command Senior Colonel Ali Durmuş and Chief of 2nd Combined Air Operations Center Senior Colonel Bülent Dündoğan were arrested.