Memorial to be dedicated to the officer killed by coup plotters

A monument will be erected in memory of Ömer Halisdemir, the non-commissioned officer revered for his attack on a general who was among the participants in the July 15 coup attempt. The coup plotters killed Sergeant Halisdemir after he shot dead Brigadier General Semih Terzi outside the headquarters of Special Forces Command, which Terzi was about to take over with other coup troops.

The scene where Halisdemir was killed by machine gun fire was preserved after the coup attempt was foiled and enclosed in glass. The site where the officer's blood stains still remain will be home to a monument dedicated to him, according to local media.

Halisdemir, 42, was stationed at the headquarters on the night of the coup as an aide to Special Forces Commander Zekai Aksakallı. Aksakallı was not at the headquarters at the time and managed to escape from coup troops that were looking to kill him. The general later recounted how he ordered Halisdemir by phone to shoot Terzi, a senior junta leader who was assigned to take over the headquarters by the coup plotters. "This was my last order to him, and I told him it was a fatal task. He only said ‘Yes, sir,'" Aksakallı told Turkish media after the coup attempt was foiled. Halisdemir, hiding behind a tree in the courtyard of the headquarters, shot Terzi in the head as the latter was walking to the entrance of the headquarters. Other coup troops gunned down the sergeant immediately after Terzi's killing in dramatic moments captured on security camera footage that was released on Thursday.

As a result of the attempted coup, 237 people were killed, including 41 police officers and 47 civilians, while 1,440 others were injured. Some 104 pro-coup figures were also killed.