Indictment filed against Akinci base FETO suspects

By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun

ANKARA

Ankara prosecutors Friday filed an indictment over the incidents at Turkey's 4th Akinci Main Jet Base last July 15, the night of the defeated coup.

Akinci -- which was renamed Murted after the attempted coup -- located outside Turkey's capital Ankara, was used as a base by some pro-coup soldiers, and some of the jets which took off from the base that night bombed several places in Ankara, including the parliament building.

Loyal Turkish military officers were also held hostage at the base.

The indictment brought charges against former Air Forces Commander Akin Ozturk, who is seen as the main soldier plotting the coup inside the military.

Charges against Ozturk include violating the Constitution, attempting to assassinate the president, trying to overthrow parliament, directing an armed terrorist group, mutiny, intentional homicide, damaging public property, endangering public safety, damaging houses of worship, and offences against civil liberty.

Ozturk was charged with being a member of the FETO/PDY (Fetullah Gulen Terrorist Organization and Parallel State Structure) and a member of so-called "Peace at Home Council".

The indictment also recounted a conversation when a person identified as Bayram Aktan asked then-Maj. Mehmet Akcara “Where is the commander? What happened?” meaning loyal soldier Chief of Gen. Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar.

According to Aktan's statement, Akcara told him, "There is no commander. From now on Akin Ozturk is the commander."

Turkey's government says the defeated coup, which left 249 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.