July 15 Coup Attempt 2.7 The occupation of the putschist soldiers spread
2.8 General Staff Headquarters seized
CARD NO 13
DETAIL Coup-makers opened the first fire on resisting people.
2.8 General Staff Headquarters seized

After Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar had been brought to the Akıncı base, gunshots came from the headquarters. Anti-coup soldiers and police officers clashed with putschist soldiers who had seized the General Staff Headquarters. During the clashes, Cobra helicopters opened fire on police officers in front of the General Staff Headquarters which had been seized by putschist soldiers. A number of ambulances stated arriving in front of the headquarters around 10.40 p.m.

Video
Civilians built a ‘human wall’ around the General Staff headquarters
PLAY 00:03:15

Civilians built a ‘human wall’ around the General Staff headquarters

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:03:15
Putschists wanting to seize the General Staff headquarters, staged a raid on the premises. As civilians poured down into the streets, they clashed with the on-duty soldiers and police officers. In order to thwart the people’s attempts to foil the coup, putschists rained bullets on the crowds from helicopters. Many citizens were martyred at the General Staff’s campus, where some of the longest and most intense clashes took place.
Video
Tanks crushed the people of Ankara
PLAY 00:01:16

Tanks crushed the people of Ankara

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:01:16
The putschists who came to the General Staff Headquarters by tank saw that the citizens had gathered there to obstruct them, and so advanced toward the people with tanks. Clashes lasted until the morning, and many civilians were martyred.
Video
Ambulance sirens heard at the General Staff Headquarters
PLAY 00:00:37

Ambulance sirens heard at the General Staff Headquarters

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:00:37
Guns were fired at the public gathering at the General Staff Headquarters to repel the traitors attacking it on the night of July 15. War planes were flying low and on land, tanks targeted civilians. Many citizens lost their lives as martyrs or were injured. Many ambulances were sent to the area of the General Staff Headquarters after the first shots were fired.
MAPS
Chief of General Staff Akar's Route
Chief of General Staff Akar's Route

On July 15, coup troops took the Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar in the Headquarters of the General Staff hostage and seized the headquarters. Akar was taken to the Akıncı 4th Main Jet Base by helicopter. Akar, who was kept there for the night, was rescued by the operation on the morning of July 16 and brought to Çankaya Palace Complex.

COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.9 Government takes first measures against the coup
CARD NO 14
CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT Studies were initiated to take the necessary measures against the coup attempt.
2.9 Government takes first measures against the coup

Following the news of the clashes coming from the General Staff, a coordination center was established at the Çankaya Mansion under the chairmanship of Prime Ministry Undersecretary Fuat Oktay. At the same time, the Ministry of the Interior also called all provincial governorates and provincial police directorates and ordered them to be on red alert. The Ministry of Interior called all policemen for duty and canceled their permits.

At around 10.30 p.m., the ministers started to move toward the Çankaya Mansion. Studies were initiated to take necessary measures in cooperation with the Coordination Center. In the meantime, security officers fired with long-barreled guns at unidentified drones that had started flying over the Çankaya Mansion, and removed them from the area.

As teams from the prime ministry could not contact TRT which had been seized by coup makers, they contacted NTV news channel at 10.56 p.m. under the instruction of Prime Ministry Undersecretary Fuat Oktay, so that Prime Minister would join its live broadcast by phone.

Video
The Interior Ministry’s orders were to respond to the putschists in kindness!
PLAY 00:10:47

The Interior Ministry’s orders were to respond to the putschists in kindness!

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:10:47
On the night of the traitorous coup, the putschists opened fire on anyone who tried to stop them as they tried to seize control over the governorate, the security directorates, and other facilities of strategic importance. In the meantime, the Interior Ministry passed orders to all governorates and security directorates, fully authorizing the police to use their weapons and respond to the putschists. The battle erupted against the putschists across the country but mostly in Istanbul, Ankara, and Sakarya, where the battle captured second by second on tape.
Video
Ministers gathered at Çankaya Palace Complex
PLAY 01:00

Ministers gathered at Çankaya Palace Complex

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
01:00
When gunshots were heard at the General Staff Headquarters, ministers started to gather at the Prime Ministry’s Çankaya Palace in order to resist against the coup. Security cameras recorded ministers entering Çankaya Palace, which was one of the locations the coup soldiers attacked.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.10 Air Operations Center under the control of coup makers
CARD NO 15
2.10 Air Operations Center under the control of coup makers

Despite the General Staff’s flight ban in the domestic airspace, putschist soldiers started conducting low-altitude flights over Ankara. Following this, Coordination Center authorities who called the Armed Forces Command Operation Control Center for the second time were told that they were conducting exercises again.

General Abidin Ünal, who was attending a wedding ceremony at the Moda Sea Club, obtained his first information about the insurgency from his wife around 09.30 p.m. After confirming the information, Ünal gathered 17 generals who were at the wedding ceremony and ordered, “Immediately reach your units and prevent departures. Those who cannot prevent departures in their air bases will be subjected to the military court.” Meanwhile, six fighter jets took off from the 8th Main Jet Base in Diyarbakır.

Ünal and 15 generals ordered Air Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hasan Hüseyin Demiraslan and Major General İdris Aksoy to go to the Operations Center in Eskisehir and made a decision to neutralize the Air Operations Center in Ankara, which was under the control of coup plotters.


FOTO GALERİ
14 PHOTOGRAPH
The flight record of an F-16 aircraft using the call sign “Kobra67” that were entrusted with the task of tracking down President Erdoğan’s aircraft were revealed. It was determined that this F-16 took off at 11:55 p.m. from Balıkesir, flew over Istanbul and landed back in Balıkesir on 1:05 a.m. The F-16 had two radars and heat seeking missiles.
According to flight records, there was heavy war craft air traffic over Ankara’s skies on the night of the coup attempt.
Flight records also point to similar heavy traffic over İncirlik Air Base. It was detected that squirts taking off from İncirlik delivered fuel to putschist aircraft.
Flight records also show similar heavy traffic over İncirlik Air Base. It was detected that squirts taking off from İncirlik delivered fuel to aircraft used in the coup attempt. Fuel transfers were also indicated in the flight records.
Special Operations Command aircraft, which took off from Diyarbakır and landed in Ankara, according to flight records, was carrying the FETÖ Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, who was shot and killed by Sergeant Ömer Halisdemir, who also lost his life during the coup attempt.
According to flight records, there was heavy air traffic in the skies above Istanbul and Ankara.
It was determined that many helicopters flew over and around İmralı Island. Heavy helicopter air traffic were detected over İmralı Island at different times.
It was found that the helicopters were densely crowded around İmralı Island. The air traffic of different helicopters was reflected on the records at different times on İmralı Island.
It was found that the helicopters were densely crowded around İmralı Island. The air traffic of different helicopters was reflected on the records at different times on İmralı Island.
It was found that the helicopters were densely crowded around İmralı Island. The air traffic of different helicopters was reflected on the records at different times on İmralı Island.
Helicopters also frequently flew over and around the province of Muğla.
Flight records also show similar heavy traffic over İncirlik Air Base. It was detected that squirts taking off from İncirlik delivered fuel to aircraft used in the coup attempt. Fuel transfers were also indicated in the flight records.
Helicopters also flew over and around the province of Ankara.
.

Video
Striking footage of the coup attempt in Ankara
PLAY 00:02:59

Striking footage of the coup attempt in Ankara

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:02:59
On the night of the coup attempt on July 15 in Ankara, striking footage came out regarding what went on inside the building, at the entrance gate of the Gendarmerie General Command which was one of the most important spots that the police and gendarmerie battled most efficiently with FETÖ member soldiers.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.11 First media outlet to announce the coup attempt
CARD NO 16
2.11 First media outlet to announce the coup attempt

Yeni Şafak was the first newspaper to announce that the extraordinary situation was a coup attempt with the title of “Treachery attempt by parallel military officers.” As this news simultaneously reached hundreds of thousands of Yeni Şafak’s mobile app users, it became evident that the extraordinary situation was a military insurgency. Yeni Şafak’s first news piece about the coup attempt was announced to readers as breaking news by other media outlets in a short time.

The first Turkish TV channel to announce that these developments were a coup attempt was TVNET. It announced the treacherous coup attempt under the title of “Treachery attempt by parallel military officers” at 10.51 p.m., saying that Fetullah Terror Group (FETÖ) members had tried to seize the command echelon of the General Staff.


Video
The public learned of the coup attempt from TVNET
PLAY 00:03:05

The public learned of the coup attempt from TVNET

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:03:05
On the night of July 15, the traitors had already set off in tanks and started deploying at strategic locations like bridges and airports. However, no one knew of these extraordinary events at the time. Before any official announcements, before the public understood what was going on, TVNET announced that a coup attempt was happening. TVNET’s headline: “Coup attempt of parallel soldiers,” at 10:51 p.m. displayed what was going on clearly while the first official announcement was made at 11:01 p.m.
EXPLANATION
NOTE:Yeni Şafak introduced the disaster scenario
  • Upon the extraordinary developments, Yeni Şafak’s software and Information Technologies teams immediately took action. The technical team that launched the disaster scenario activated the disaster system in three different locations

    In case of a problem with the central servers, they activated disaster scenarios in two overseas locations and one domestic location. 
    The technical team, which assessed the possibility of overloading on the existing server systems, also increased server services by 10 times.

Video
Yeni Şafak Managing Editor: Coup attempt cannot be stopped without the public claiming the streets!
PLAY 00:03:30

Yeni Şafak Managing Editor: Coup attempt cannot be stopped without the public claiming the streets!

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:03:30
Yeni Şafak was the first newspaper to announce that the extraordinary events were indeed a coup attempt with the headline: “An attempt of treachery from parallel soldiers.” Notifications were sent out to hundreds of thousands of Yeni Şafak mobile app users simultaneously. Yeni Şafak Internet Managing Editor Ersin Çelik rushed to the TVNET news studio and called on the public to claim the streets and take control of the situation.
INFOGRAPHIC
Close to 2 million interactions in the first 4 hours
Close to 2 million interactions in the first 4 hours
Within the first 4 hours of the July 15th coup attempt, 1,671 million users accessed Yeni Şafak’s Twitter account. A total of 59 news stories were shared 9,265 times. The same posts also garnered 6,924 likes and reached 18,625 clicks.
INFOGRAPHIC
Close to 27 million interactions on Twitter during the first 48 hours
Close to 27 million interactions on Twitter during the first 48 hours
During the first 48 hours of the July 15th coup attempt, a total of 27,630,000 people accessed the Yeni Şafak Twitter page, and a total of 550 news stories garnered 106,881 favorites, 98,522 retweets, receiving 377,985 clicks in total.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.12 Air attack on National Intelligence Organization
CARD NO 17
MUST SEE Following the coup intelligence, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) was attacked.
2.12 Air attack on National Intelligence Organization

Military helicopters opened fire on the MİT campus in Yenimahalle, Ankara. Officers in charge of the MİT’s immediate security responded to the attacks with short and long-barreled weapons. Following the clash, coup-making soldiers had to withdraw.

Video
Attack against National Intelligence Service by helicopters
PLAY 00:01:09

Attack against National Intelligence Service by helicopters

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:01:09
Another target for the putschists on the night of the coup attempt was the National Intelligence Service located in Yenimahalle, Ankara. The putschists attacked MIT by helicopter. The security of the service retaliated, and a tough conflict broke out.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.13 Social media was blocked
CARD NO 18
2.13 Social media was blocked

After the coup attempt was reflected on the media, great disinformation emerged on social media platforms. As the possibility of provocations increased, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others were closed for a short time. They were reopened after quite a short while and functioned as an important instrument in establishing connection and repelling the coup attempt.

INFOGRAPHIC
Putschists were repelled on Twitter
Putschists were repelled on Twitter
Social media also had a great contribution to the repression of FETÖ's coup attempt. Millions of people found out about the coup attempt on Twitter and went to the streets to repel it. The number of tweets sent on July 15 was 35 times higher than the average. A total of 495,000 shares were made on Twitter within 4 hours.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section
2.7 Occupations by putschist soldiers spread
CARD NO 19
CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT Occupations by putschist soldiers started spreading.
2.7 Occupations by putschist soldiers spread

A group of military students, who were summoned to the Kuleli Military High School on the grounds of military exercise, moved out of the school to seize the Çengelköy Police Station. In the meantime, putschist troops coming out of the Habipler Topkule Barracks came in front of the Bayrampaşa Mobile Force building.

While armored vehicles and tanks which moved from the Topkule Barracks were traveling around Esenler, people pouring out to the streets wanted to stop them. The armored vehicles progressed by crushing over people and martyred six of them.
When it came to 10.15 p.m., the Istanbul Atatürk Airport was seized by putschist soldiers who had come to the airport with tanks.

A group of soldiers in the vicinity of the Anatolian side also raided the Sabiha Gökçen Airport to seize it. Both the Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen airports were seized by coup plotters. The troops from the 66th Armored Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command headed toward the Istanbul Police Headquarters. When they arrived at Vatan Street at 10.30 p.m., they started opening fire on people who had poured onto the streets. 15 minutes previous, Istanbul Police Chief Mustafa Çalışkan and his team had left the building. Çalışkan and his team headed toward the July 15 Martyrs' Bridge in a convoy.

At 10.49 p.m., reinforcing forces from the Istanbul 2nd Armored Brigade were sent to these occupied places.

In the same hours, people gathered in front of the Government Office in Şırnak’s Cizre district upon calls that were made via mosque loudspeakers. They prevented putschist soldiers on the bridge over the Tigris River.


Video
Tanks set off with ammunition
PLAY 01:00

Tanks set off with ammunition

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
01:00
Many tanks and armored personnel carriers (APC) set off from the Istanbul 2nd Armored Brigade to be used in the coup attempt on July 15. After the coup attempt was repelled, the details emerging from the vehicles of the brigade were spine chilling.
Video
Istanbul Security Directorate stopped the putschists
PLAY 00:01:44

Istanbul Security Directorate stopped the putschists

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:01:44
Yeni Şafak daily covered the events that took place in the Istanbul Security Directorate during the first hours of the July 15 coup attempt. Published for the first time, the footage shows the head of the Provincial Security Directorate, Mustafa Çalışkan, and his squad, as they left the directorate at 21:45. The squad clashed with the traitors on the bridge and returned at 8:00 the following morning. Çalışkan held a short meeting at the directorate’s garden.
Video
An incursion at Sabiha Gökçen Airport
PLAY 00:00:57

An incursion at Sabiha Gökçen Airport

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:00:57
Sabiha Gökçen Airport was one of the locations occupied by the putschist soldiers on the night of July 15. Putschist soldiers attacked the airport, raining bullets on people.
Video
Exit from Kuleli Military School
PLAY 00:00:40

Exit from Kuleli Military School

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:00:40
Another target for the putschists was the Istanbul Governorship building. Seizing control over this vital facility was another step that would ensure the success of the coup. In order to facilitate the attack, the putschists summoned a group of soldiers to the governorship from the 47th Motorized Infantry Regiment. The putschists swept the offices one by one as they raided the building. Later, citizens armed only with chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ attempted to stop them, blocking their entry into the governorship.
Video
Civilians were on tank duty in front of the barracks
PLAY 00:01:50

Civilians were on tank duty in front of the barracks

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:01:50
Some of the tanks used during the coup attempt were from the General Nurettin Baransel Barracks located in Kartal, Istanbul. People who received the news of the coup attempt stood on watch in front of the barracks until the morning to prevent the tanks from leaving, forming a wall of flesh. After the operation held toward the morning by the police force, six soldiers attempting the coup were taken into custody.
Video
Atatürk Airport under occupation
PLAY 00:03:58

Atatürk Airport under occupation

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:03:58
Atatürk Airport was one of the most important targets that the putschists tried to seize on the night of July 15. Acting under the supervision of Colonel Mustafa Kol, putschist soldiers, accompanied by tanks, headed to the airport and blocked all entrance and exit points. At 10:54 p.m. the airport, including the tower, was seized by the putschists. Later, after President Erdoğan invited people to go down into the streets, citizens flooded the airport and blocked tanks from advancing. The airport was reclaimed.
Video
“Homeland” under protection
PLAY 00:00:38

“Homeland” under protection

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:00:38
The public did not allow passage to coup soldiers who arrived from the 66th Armored Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command and attacked Istanbul Police Headquarters on Vatan Avenue with two tanks and five armored personnel carriers (APC). Police opened fire and prevented a helicopter arriving to provide backup to the coup soldiers from landing.
Video
Tanks overran police stations with tanks
PLAY 00:02:50

Tanks overran police stations with tanks

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:02:50
Accompanied by tanks taken from the Habibler Topkule Barracks, putschists started moving following the directives of putschist Commander Major Murat Çelebioğlu, who order them “to not allow even a single police officer out of Bayrampaşa.” Upon arriving in front of the Security Directorate, the traitors first stopped the traffic, then occupying the Riot Police Branch Directorate, they blocked all entrance and exit points using tanks. Using their bodies as shields, civilians fought the traitors who opened fire on them until the morning hours.
Video
No trespassing for APCs (armored personnel carrier) in Şırnak
PLAY 00:06:22

No trespassing for APCs (armored personnel carrier) in Şırnak

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:06:22
Şırnak was one of the cities that experienced the coup attempt. Coup soldiers were sent to the city in APCs to hold strategic spots in Şırnak but they were met with resistance. The public went out to the square with the slogan: “Shoulder to shoulder against the coup” on the call from the mufti’s office made from the mosque’s speaker and intercepted the coup soldiers together with police forces and stopped their progress.
Video
Metin Doğan lied down under a tank
PLAY 00:02:48

Metin Doğan lied down under a tank

Editing:Ömer Lütfü Gözsüz AA
00:02:48
Metin Doğan, who lied down in front of the tank at Atatürk Airport during the July 15 coup attempt that was perpetrated by FETÖ, said: “I believe that every citizen of this nation, man or woman, has the character to do the same.”
Video
A night of bloodshed in Esenler
PLAY 00:02:07

A night of bloodshed in Esenler

Editing:Celal Can Vatandaş Yeni Şafak
00:02:07
Putschist soldiers who left Topkule Barraks in tanks on the night of July 15 turned the O-3 highway into a blood bath when faced with citizens who wanted to stop them in the Esenler area. The putschist soldiers did not hesitate to run over people who threw themselves in front of the tanks as they crushed cars on the road and opened fire in order to advance. Those moments were captured on citizens’ cameras.
EXPLANATION
NOTE:62 military students arrested
  • A total of 62 students from the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades of the Kuleli Military High School were arrested as part of the probe into the coup attempt. 

    These 62 students rejected the charges during the interrogation. Students made similar statements in their assertions, with some of them saying that they had been called to attend a cocktail at school, while others saying that they had been given empty G3s under the name of a military exercise. They alleged that they had been promised that they would be allowed to pass the make-up examination if they had succeeded in the operation.  

EXPLANATION
NOTE:Putschist troops taking the road
  • The troops that took the road with the coup-plotters’ order had 10 cannonball bullets and 2,000 MG3 bullet series for tanks, 165 cannonballs for armored combat vehicles and nearly 5,000 bullets for armored personnel carriers. 

    The coup makers took the following military vehicles for the reinforcement of their team on the Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Bosporus bridges

    - Two tanks
    - Two armored personnel carriers

    For the Sabiha Gökçen Airport: 

    - Four tanks 
    - Two armored personnel carriers 
    - Two armored combat vehicles

    For the 1st Army Command and Acıbadem Telekom: 

    - Four armored personnel carriers for each. 

    For Mobile Forces: 

    - Eight tanks
    - Two armored personnel carriers 
    - Two armored combat vehicles 

MAPS
Istanbul on the night of July 15
Istanbul on the night of July 15

Istanbul was one of the most critical provinces during the July 15 coup attempt.

INFOGRAPHIC
Putschists in the Turkish military in numbers
Putschists in the Turkish military in numbers
Warplanes, tanks and helicopters were used by putschists during the coup attempt.
COMMENTS Join the discussion, express your thoughts and opinions about this section