Akin Ozturk

akin-ozturk-profileGen Akin OZTURK, the former Chief of Turkish Air Force until August 2015, was the member of the Supreme Military Council and had no units under his command.

On the day, he went to talk to the dissenting Generals who were detaining Chief of Turkish Military Gen Hulusi AKAR at Akinci Airbase in Ankara. He did this at the request of the incumbent Chief of Turkish Air Force Gen Abidin UNAL, and the invitation by Chief of Turkish Military Gen Hulusi AKAR. When he arrived at the base HQ, he was casually dressed[1], and he found that Gen AKAR was having tea[2] among the dissenting generals. For hours, he and Gen AKAR tried to convince those generals to stop all F-16 flights over the capital[3]. Finally, they succeeded.

A day after the coup was suppressed; the Minister of Defense and the pro-Government media started a massive campaign against Gen OZTURK. He was then immediately detained, tortured and arrested on charges of leading the coup, trying to topple down the Government to change the regime in Turkey.


On 21 July 2016, TGS officially declared[4] that Gen Akin OZTURK was tasked by the Chief of Turkish Air Force[5] on 15th of July to convince the dissenting officers to stop F-16 flights over Ankara. Neither the Government nor the pro-ERDOGAN media took this into account. Interestingly, neither his testimony at the prosecutor’s office nor the famous public release of TGS was included in the main body of indictment about the coup attempt. What is more interesting is the public release is no more available at TGS website. The Parliamentary Investigation Commission on the coup attempt also refused to get him to testify due to opposing votes by its members from the ruling AKP.

According to the bill of indictment, Gen OZTURK is accused of leading the so-called Peace at Home Council (PaHC), which is allegedly the main body to execute the coup plot. If OZTURK was the leader of the PaHC, his testimony should be among the most important ones. Why did the prosecutor’s office fail to include it? His actions as inferred from the testimonies of either suspects or the witnesses are in line with that of his own and the 21 July public release of TGS. None of the suspects or the witnesses blamed him or told of any of his actions to be pro-putschist. How could he lead a coup attempt without a single action in support?


OZTURK was also invited to the wedding ceremony in Istanbul. He testifies that he lost much time for the personal notary work in Izmir and missed the opportunity to join the wedding. He returned to Ankara by asking at the last minute to join a scheduled flight only to take Turkish Army Chief from Izmir to Ankara. Had he missed that flight, he might well have been still in Izmir during the coup attempt. If he were the leader of the coup and the PaHC, why would he spend half of the day in Izmir, trying to arrange notary papers for personal issues instead of making his final preparations for the attempt? How come an alleged leader of the coup attempt spends the day that comfortably in Izmir? Is this not a proof that he had no prior knowledge about the coup attempt?

OZTURK is accused by the prosecutor of planning to take over the office of the Chief of Turkish Military if dissenting activities would have been successful. Gen OZTURK and many other suspects were tortured after the events. The former Air Chief has been imprisoned to date with serious charges, calling for a life sentence. Gen AKAR and others testify that he was casually dressed during that night[6]. It is hard to imagine a coup leader, who might supposedly address the nation and the world that night, wears a T-shirt and pants, instead of a fancy Air Force ceremonial uniform full of medals.

After his arrest, OZTURK was tortured by pro-ERDOGAN police.


[1] According to Gen AKAR’s testimony “He was wearing a t-shirt and pants” see page 490 of “the main bill of indictment regarding the coup attempt” at http://www.ensonhaber.com/dosyalar/id1.pdf

[2] According to Gen Ozturk’s testimony at the prosecutor’s office at http://aa.com.tr/tr/15-temmuz-darbe-girisimi/eski-hava-kuvvetleri-komutani-ozturkun-savcilik-ifadesi/610614

[3] http://www.bbc.com/turkce/36858601

[4] http://www.hilalhaber.com/turkiye/tskdan-akin-ozturk-aciklamasi-h36280.html

[5] http://www.posta.com.tr/tsk-akin-ozturkun-ifadesini-kismen-dogruladi-haberi-354543

[6] See page 490 of “the main bill of indictment regarding the coup attempt” at http://www.ensonhaber.com/dosyalar/id1.pdf