Former Brigadier General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, who was in charge of the MAK team assigned to ‘retrieve’ President Erdoğan to Marmaris on the night of July 15th, has allegedly made significant revelations regarding the then Chief of the General Staff, Hulusi Akar, in an unofficial statement to MIT.
According to journalist Ahmet Dönmez, who shared a video with the caption “I will share an exclusive news item that is 100% accurate,” Sönmezateş, who was secretly taken from the prison where he was held and interrogated in one of MIT’s ‘secure’ houses in Ankara, claims that Hulusi Akar was the number one behind the coup. As per Sönmezateş’s statements conveyed by Ahmet Dönmez, Akar was the one who personally organized and assigned tasks for the July 15th coup.
Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş states, “It was Hulusi Akar who assigned me to retrieve Erdoğan. He said, ‘Son, you will handle this, bring him to me. I know what to do with him!’ He repeatedly said, ‘Make sure no problems arise, I trust you.’ We were in contact on the night of July 15th as well. He called and asked, ‘What happened, did you get him?’ When I said, ‘No, he’s not here,’ he replied, ‘Check Okluk, he might be there.'”
Ahmet Dönmez explains that Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş’s statement is in the possession of the state, and President Erdoğan is aware of this statement. If this claim is true and Hulusi Akar was indeed the planner of the coup, the question of why no legal action has been taken against him until now remains unanswered. On the contrary, Hulusi Akar was promoted from Chief of the General Staff to Minister of National Defense. Erdoğan has not separated from Akar; he made him a deputy from Kayseri in the recent election. Why is Erdoğan protecting a man who supposedly intended to overthrow him?
If these claims are accurate, Hulusi Akar is playing a double game and is being rewarded for his played role by being made a ‘minister’ following July 15th.
Here are some excerpts from Ahmet Dönmez’s statements: “I will share an exclusive news item that is 100% accurate. Former Brigadier General Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş is taken out of the prison by MIT, Turkish Intelligence Sevice, and questioned. The meeting is recorded. Sönmezateş is given certain assurances. He tells everything here that he didn’t say in court. He explicitly mentions Hulusi Akar’s name. He reveals Akar’s role in the coup. He details how Akar got involved in the coup attempt, what they discussed in the meetings, how they were assigned tasks, and what Akar told them. All these statements are in the possession of the state, they are recorded.” “Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş, commander of the MAK teams assigned to retrieve Erdoğan from İzmir to Marmaris on the night of July 15th, is the one who moves with him. There are other teams moving with him. In the trials, he said, ‘I attempted a coup. But I was deceived into it.’ Former Major Şükrü Seymen also made similar confessions.” “This special interrogation takes place about 2 years ago, in 2021. They tell him, ‘Tell the story as it happened, and we will help you and your family.’ They assure him that what he says here will not enter the court files. He is taken out of prison with his eyes blindfolded. He is taken to one of MIT’s ‘secure’ houses. There, both MIT and police officers from the Intelligence Department are waiting for him.”
“According to the information I received, here Gökhan Şahin Sönmezateş clearly states that he received the ‘order’ from Hulusi Akar. He explains that the meeting with Akar took place a week before the coup. ‘We met with General Akar before the coup. He informed us about the coup. He said that there would be a coup under his command on the night of July 15th. He assigned us tasks as well. He calls me ‘son.’ He says to me, ‘Son, you will handle this, you will get Tayyip.’ He says, ‘Look, son, is everything alright? Make sure there are no problems.’ He repeated this many times… ‘Wait for news from me on the night of the coup,’ he said. We were in contact on July 15th as well. We talked after the movement started in the evening. We also talked after we went to Marmaris to retrieve the President. He asked, ‘Did you get him, what did you do?’ I said, ‘He wasn’t there, we couldn’t find him.’ He said, ‘Check Okluk, he might have gone there.’ Then our contact was lost.” “This transcript is also sent to the then Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu. Soylu starts using this against Hulusi Akar.”
