An indictment against security personnel who are responsible for the release of Adil Öksüz, an alleged major suspect in the investigation into a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, claimed that some gendarmeire and police officers ignored to inform judiciary about Öksüz’s alleged ties with the Gülen movement which is accused by Turkish government of being behind the controversial coup.
According to the indictment, prepared by Ankara Public Prosecutor Ramazan Dinç, against 13 gendarmeire officers, 14 police officers and Prime Ministry adviser Ali İhsan Sarıkoca, 28 people are suspected of either negligence or deliberately aiding the release of Öksüz.
Cumhuriyet daily reported on Saturday that Öksüz was among the civilians captured at Akıncımilitary base in Ankara on July 16, 2016.
Sarıkoca was told Öksüz was in detention by police intelligence officer Serter Koçak, another suspect in the case who learned Öksüz was a senior imam or a senior executive of alleged FETÖ, a derogatory term coined by Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to refer followers of Gülen movement, responsible for Turkish Air Forces. Sarıkoca later visited Öksüz at the police station after his initial detention.
According to indictment, Koçak is accused of blocking Öksüz’s transfer to another police station.
Cumhuriyet also reported that Alp Aslan, a senior police intelligence officer, did not inform his superiors about Öksüz’s status and told prosecutors he did not remember if he was informed about Öksüz’s role though other defendants.
During his initial questioning on July 16, 2016, Öksüz claimed he was near Akıncı Airbase to look for a piece of land he planned to buy.
Öksüz, who was an academic in Sakarya University, remains at large since July 18 with no leads regarding his whereabouts after he was last seen in his hometown in northwestern Turkey.
Turkey survived a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting participants of the Gülen movement in jails.
At least 161,751 people were detained or investigated and 50,334 people were arrested in Turkey in the framework of the Turkish government’s massive post-coup witch hunt campaign targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement since the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, according to statistics reported by state-run Anadolu news agency by basing on information taken from the officials from Turkey’s Justice Minsitry on June 13. (SCF with turkishminute.com) June 25, 2017
