The trials of the July 15 coup attempt blamed on the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) continue with little change in the testimonies of defendants. In a trial where 75 defendants have testified, the various identical testimonies frustrated a judge who scolded a group of cadets claiming they were not aware of what their commanders were doing.
The trial of 75 defendants, mostly cadets from the Air Force Academy, who joined the coup attempt in Istanbul in which several people were killed by pro-coup troops, is taking place in the 24th High Criminal Court in Istanbul. As defendants voiced the same testimony and said they did not overhear what was said by their commanders who were traveling in the same military bus taking them to Istanbul from the city of Yalova on July 15, Judge Hulusi Pur became visibly angry. "Evidence shows all your commanders in the bus made phone calls repeatedly and for some reason, none of the defendants here heard what they spoke about," Pur said, complaining that all the defendants were repeating the same statement that they could not hear as they were "sitting in the rear seats." The frustrated judge called it the first time in his career that he had witnessed such a large number of defendants giving the same testimony.
Copycat testimonies were not confined to the Istanbul trial. Almost all the defendants being tried in coup bid trials across the country claim they were not aware that a coup was happening and blame their superiors. Their superiors meanwhile claim they had to obey orders from army headquarters, which had been taken over by the coup plotters. Most defendants say they took to the streets, where they confronted unarmed civilians because they were told that there was a possibility of a terror attack.
In yesterday's hearings, Resul Nişancı, a conscript who made headlines with a video showing the young soldier crying when he learned about the coup, also testified. Nişancı was among the conscripts brought to the Istanbul Governorate by their pro-coup commanders to seize the governorate. Security camera footage of a coffeehouse near the governorate showed the soldier shedding tears when he learned he was part of a coup, as he saw images of coup soldiers all across the country on TV. Nişancı said his compulsory military service would conclude five days after July 15, and he suddenly found himself in the middle of a putsch bid. "Col. Nizamettin [another defendant in the case] put us on alert that day. I was not a military driver, but I was ordered to drive a captain I did not recognize to a place I later found out was the governorate," he said. Nişancı said Col. Nizamettin accompanied them, and when they arrived at the governorate, the colonel ordered them to load magazines into their guns and to not allow "any civilians" into the building. "The crowd was getting bigger, and they tried to force their way into the governorate. I allowed them in after they told me that I was ‘on the wrong side'," the young man said.
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