Coup attempt on Turkish democracy in film

Aiming to shed light onto the recent political history of Turkey, the movie "Darbe" (Coup) screens the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) crisis that began with the testimony of MİT Chief Hakan Fidan on Feb. 7, 2012. Journalist Avni Özgürel, the film's scriptwriter, told an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter that movie shootings took one-and-a-half months with the use of special cameras. "I consider this incident as a coup against the state. It is also important for Turkey's recent history, which should not be forgotten and needs to be recorded," Özgürel said. He stressed that the movie also covers spying, false notices, fake documents, traps, threats and blackmailing related to the attempted coup. "I believe nobody will say the movie is unrealistic when they watch it. The film's story is not fictional. Everything is real," he said, adding that some accounts might seem to be told without giving too much detail. In other similar films, some of the portrayed movie characters left their positions. However, in this film, all characters remain in the same position.

Fidan, the title role, is still in office, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was elected as president. Özgürel said the occurrences are not limited to what is told in the movie. "We still suffer from similar discussions and undergo a similar process. This is because the movie does not tell a story that has ended, but rather it continues. Maybe we can make a sequel," he said. Özgürel underscored that the film lacks a few things. "The last scene looks like a temporary final," he added, while pointing to the continuity of the incidents. Özgürel also said Turkey has a weak political cinema scene. "I respect the comedy movies of our important actors, yet certain major incidents that Turkey underwent, especially those that should be remembered, deserve to be seen on the big screen. There are many political movies in American and European cinema," he said. In Turkey, political films are stereotyped. "When talking about the Sept. 12, 1980, coup, we can only mention films full of torture and bloody scenes. I was also imprisoned and tortured during those years, yet my related film 'Zincirbozan' [Breaking the Chain] does not have any torture scenes," he said. Özgürel has since sued the police officer that tortured him. "My pain was important, but what Turkey is suffering is more important," he continued. Until his film "Zincirbozan" was released, left-wing intellectuals assumed that Kenan Evren was the only figure of the Sept. 12 coup d'état. "It was because he was very visible and thereby it was easy for Turkish citizens to penalize him," he said, highlighting the need to truthfully narrate what happened in the past to Turkish youth.

Claiming that the film will trigger other political films in Turkey, Özgürel said: "There have been several suicide bomb attacks in Turkey. There is neither a novel nor a documentary film about these incidents. Trust me - many people will not remember what happened in Suruç, as we do not do anything that would carve these incidents into people's memories. Many things happen in Turkey. Apart from few romanticized works, there is not a film based on the life of Deniz Gezmiş, for instance. I believe that there should be these kinds of films."

Özgürel also commented on the Oslo Meetings that are featured in the film and said they included the story of Murat Karayılan calling MİT undersecretaries. "We did not leak those documents. If necessary, the undersecretary can send someone to Qandil and make inquiries," he said.

Özgürel emphasized that the film presents the story from the point of view of Qandil as well. He stressed that he writes whatever is necessary: "If something was done wrong during these incidents, it will hunt you down tomorrow. They wrote very bad headlines in the newspapers about Ahmet Kaya, but those who wrote those things did not apologize. Your wrongdoings might be brought in front of you in the future."

Özgürel talked about the reconciliation process and expressed his sadness that Turkey is losing precious time due to the recent incidents. "We have internalized the reconciliation process so much in Turkey that not only the Turkish people but also the Kurds do not want any blood to be spilled. Hence, we have to carry on with the reconciliation process and bring it to an end. Today, it seems plagued, but tomorrow it will continue," Özgürel said. Produced by TFT Film and directed by Yasin Uslu, the film stars Cansel Elçin, Erdinç Gülener, Öykü Çelik and Şemsi İnkaya.