AGFG / TRANSCRIPT
(time-coded and with
character names)
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN:
10:00:08:04,10:00:10:09,11
One nation.
10:00:10:12,10:00:12:21,11
One flag.
10:00:12:24,10:00:15:03,11
One fatherland.
10:00:15:06,10:00:17:08,11
One state.
10:00:17:11,10:00:21:04,11
And together we shall be Turkey!
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:00:32:08,10:00:38:10,10
I was 16 when the planes started bombing the presidential palace in Santiago, -
10:00:38:13,10:00:42:01,10
- and the tanks rolled into the city in 1973.
10:00:46:24,10:00:50:22,10
The coup in Chile
was my political awakening, -
10:00:51:00,10:00:55:11,10
- and I was shocked by what people were capable of doing.
10:00:55:14,10:00:59:07,11
Mass arrests, widespread torture -
10:00:59:10,10:01:02:15,10
- and young people
who simply disappeared.
10:01:07:24,10:01:12:14,10
Augusto Pinochet's fascist regime showed no mercy -
10:01:12:17,10:01:17:12,10
- when they toppled the
elected government of Salvador Allende.
10:01:21:13,10:01:24:15,11
But the coup had another consequence:
10:01:24:18,10:01:28:16,10
Tens of thousands of people fled the country.
10:01:28:19,10:01:35:18,10
Some came to Norway. Chileans moved into my neighbourhood and became my friends.
10:01:41:01,10:01:46:02,10
President Erdogan's speeches bring back all those early memories.
10:01:46:22,10:01:51:07,10
Once again, thousands of refugees are flooding into Europe, -
10:01:51:10,10:01:53:24,11
- this time from Turkey.
10:01:54:02,10:01:59:19,10
Once again there are mass arrests and widespread torture.
10:02:05:16,10:02:11:08,10
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has ruled Turkey since 2002.
10:02:11:11,10:02:15:11,10
In his initial years,
he brought growth and stability, -
10:02:15:14,10:02:22:02,10
- until he slowly tightened his grip
and eventually dominated the country.
10:02:22:05,10:02:28:19,10
This change became clear on the evening of July 15, 2016.
10:02:33:04,10:02:39:01,10
I was in Turkey at the time; a warm and peaceful summer night that was -
10:02:39:04,10:02:46:00,10
- suddenly interrupted by news of tanks in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara, -
10:02:46:03,10:02:50:19,10
- and a possible military coup against President Erdogan.
CNN ANCHOR #1:
10:02:50:22,10:02:53:04,11
We have breaking news:
10:02:53:07,10:02:59:00,10
Chaos in Turkey. The prime minister saying that the military in his country -
10:02:59:03,10:03:03:14,10
- has taken illegal action against its own government.
CNN ANCHOR #2:
10:03:03:17,10:03:06:16,11
Gunfire has been heard in the streets.
10:03:06:19,10:03:11:20,10
Military jets are conducting low flyovers over the major cities.
10:03:11:23,10:03:15:24,10
And bridges over the Bosporus have been shut.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:03:16:24,10:03:20:02,11
At first it was like déjà vu.
10:03:21:16,10:03:24:11,11
Chile all over again.
10:03:24:14,10:03:29:13,10
For Turks it brought back memories of earlier coups in Turkey:
10:03:29:16,10:03:34:00,11
In 1960, 1971 and 1980.
10:03:34:24,10:03:39:04,10
But slowly but surely, people began to wonder:
10:03:39:07,10:03:45:14,10
"What is this really?" It didn't
seem like an ordinary military coup.
10:03:46:15,10:03:50:20,10
The whole world has heard Erdogan's official explanation -
10:03:50:23,10:03:56:15,10
- as to what happened on the evening of July 15, and who was responsible.
10:03:56:18,10:04:01:00,11
Now I am going to tell a different story.
10:04:20:00,10:04:24:20,10
The coup attempt in Turkey can be called "The Battle of the Bosporus Bridge".
10:04:24:23,10:04:29:20,10
Despite various military actions
around the country, like the bombing -
10:04:29:23,10:04:33:16,10
- of the parliament in Ankara and shooting at the hotel -
10:04:33:19,10:04:39:02,10
- where the president was staying, the drama on the bridge in Istanbul -
10:04:39:05,10:04:42:03,11
- has come to symbolize the coup.
10:04:43:12,10:04:48:11,10
This narrative has become so strong that the bridge has been renamed -
10:04:48:14,10:04:52:09,11
- "The July 15 Martyrs' Bridge".
10:04:57:04,10:05:02:14,10
Around 9 p.m. on July 15, something happens in the Turkish military.
10:05:05:22,10:05:11:07,10
A handful of soldiers and a few tanks are sent out into the streets -
10:05:11:10,10:05:15:19,10
- to block one lane
of the Bosporus Bridge.
10:05:15:22,10:05:22:04,10
For three years we've worked intensively to try to understand what really happened.
10:05:22:07,10:05:27:20,10
Despite a wall of silence, propaganda and misinformation, -
10:05:27:23,10:05:31:20,10
- we managed to find people who are willing to talk.
10:05:47:13,10:05:53:24,10
Prof. Henri Barkey is the foremost expert on Turkey and the Middle East in the US.
10:05:54:02,10:05:58:15,10
He's been a State Department advisor, written books on the topic, -
10:05:58:18,10:06:02:02,10
- and was just outside Istanbul during the coup.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:06:02:05,10:06:07:20,10
On July 15, 2016 I was on an island called Büyükada.
10:06:07:23,10:06:13:15,10
I was running a conference on Iran and its neighbours.
10:06:13:18,10:06:19:01,10
But then I started getting
phone calls from BBC, CNN, saying -
10:06:19:04,10:06:24:17,10
- there's a coup going on in Istanbul. "What do you think?" "I have no idea."
NEVSIN MENGU:
10:06:27:15,10:06:33:17,10
I was at the network, at CNN TÜRK. My show finished at nine.
10:06:33:20,10:06:38:14,10
I got home. I turned on CNN TÜRK. And I saw like...
10:06:38:17,10:06:44:02,10
"There are soldiers closing
the Atatürk Bridge." I was like, "What?"
CAN ATAKLI:
10:06:46:22,10:06:51:14,10
For some strange reason,
the coup started on the bridge.
10:06:51:17,10:06:55:03,11
And they only closed it in one direction.
10:06:55:06,10:06:58:16,11
A coup d'Ètat is a coup against the state.
10:06:58:19,10:07:06:13,10
And the first thing you do during a coup, is to detain the leaders of the country.
10:07:06:16,10:07:09:12,11
The events on the bridge were a show.
10:07:09:15,10:07:15:22,10
Neither President Erdogan nor any other government representatives were detained.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:07:17:18,10:07:22:11,10
I've lived through many coups in Turkey, but this was unique.
10:07:22:14,10:07:27:16,10
This is a coup that took place at 9 p.m. on a Friday night.
10:07:27:19,10:07:34:05,10
The peak rush hour in Istanbul, when it takes hours to get over the bridge.
10:07:34:08,10:07:40:14,10
This is not the way you do a coup. We all knew this was fishy from the beginning.
NEVSIN MENGU:
10:07:43:07,10:07:46:13,11
The coup plotters looked like amateurs.
10:07:46:16,10:07:50:20,10
If I wanted to plot a coup, first I'd cut the Internet.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:07:52:16,10:07:58:01,10
Many of those soldiers were cadets. They weren't even proper soldiers.
CAN ATAKLI:
10:07:58:18,10:08:03:11,10
The cadets who were sent to the bridge, had been told -
10:08:03:14,10:08:09:05,10
- of an imminent attack by ISIS.
They were ordered to guard the bridge.
10:08:09:08,10:08:13:13,10
It took several hours before they realised it wasn't true.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:08:15:14,10:08:21:09,10
The soldiers have now held the bridge for several hours without incident.
10:08:21:12,10:08:23:16,11
But then, -
10:08:23:19,10:08:27:03,11
- around half past midnight, -
10:08:27:06,10:08:31:16,10
- Erdogan broadcasts his
now infamous FaceTime interview.
10:08:31:19,10:08:36:15,10
He says he knows who is behind
the coup attempt, and encourages people -
10:08:36:18,10:08:40:17,10
- to take to the streets and fight the soldiers.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN:
10:08:40:20,10:08:43:15,11
This is a message to the nation.
10:08:43:18,10:08:48:00,10
I invite our people to gather in the city squares.
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Let this small group come with their weapons.
10:08:52:00,10:08:55:02,11
They can do what they want to the people.
10:08:55:05,10:09:00:06,10
I have never known any power stronger than that of the people.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:09:02:18,10:09:05:24,11
This is when the real drama begins.
10:09:06:02,10:09:11:20,10
Shortly after the president's broadcast, people head for the bridge.
10:09:16:12,10:09:22:13,10
Some of these people are ordinary civilian supporters of Erdogan.
10:09:22:16,10:09:26:23,10
But most of them are surprisingly well prepared.
NEVSIN MENGU:
10:09:27:01,10:09:31:23,10
I don't know how these people
were organised, but they had batons.
10:09:32:01,10:09:35:15,10
Once they came,
the atmosphere changed.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:09:37:07,10:09:42:20,10
The police are there, but do not seem interested in stopping the crowd.
10:09:42:23,10:09:47:22,10
Anyone familiar with the Turkish police knows this is unprecedented.
POLICE OFFICER ON THE BRIDGE:
10:09:48:00,10:09:51:17,10
The soldiers have overthrown the government.
10:09:51:20,10:09:57:24,10
We have closed the road. We will not allow anyone to cross the bridge.
10:09:58:02,10:10:03:01,10
But if you insist on crossing,
and believe it's safe, then go ahead.
CIVILLIANS IN THE CROWD:
10:10:03:04,10:10:05:20,10
-I'll cross the bridge.
-Me too!
10:10:05:23,10:10:08:02,11
Come on, everyone!
10:10:13:10,10:10:16:09,11
I'm not afraid of dying!
CAN ATAKLI:
10:10:17:23,10:10:21:20,11
The crowd was heading toward the soldiers.
10:10:21:23,10:10:28:03,10
Most of them belonged to a militant group within AKP.
10:10:28:06,10:10:31:19,10
Their clothes,
their hair and beards, -
10:10:31:22,10:10:35:10,11
- made them look like ISIS militants.
CIVILLIANS IN THE CROWD:
10:10:35:13,10:10:39:12,11
In God's name! God is greatest!
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:10:39:15,10:10:41:23,11
Who are these people?
10:10:42:01,10:10:45:20,10
And more importantly, who do they work for?
CAN ATAKLI:
10:10:47:17,10:10:52:06,10
We had heard that AKP
had begun to organise a militia.
10:10:52:09,10:10:58:13,10
A crowd that could take to the streets if the government was threatened.
10:10:58:16,10:11:04:16,10
These men in the SADAT militia are more or less mercenaries.
10:11:04:19,10:11:09:03,11
That's the only plausible explanation.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:11:11:20,10:11:16:00,10
The young soldiers defend themselves as best they can.
10:11:17:02,10:11:23:09,10
But they're vastly outnumbered,
and don't want to fire on the civilians.
10:11:41:12,10:11:46:18,10
As night turns to morning,
the soldiers lay down their weapons -
10:11:46:21,10:11:49:20,11
- and surrender to the police.
10:11:49:23,10:11:53:04,11
Now the real nightmare begins.
10:11:54:02,10:12:00:14,10
Because these men have no intention of letting the young soldiers get away.
10:12:02:06,10:12:05:15,11
The police politely step aside.
CAN ATAKLI:
10:12:07:17,10:12:13:24,10
They had surrendered to the police as civilians.
10:12:15:00,10:12:17:12,11
The police let them go.
10:12:17:15,10:12:22:08,10
Then they opened the way for these unknown men.
10:12:24:10,10:12:28:19,10
They attacked the soldiers and lynched them.
CIVILLIANS IN THE CROWD:
10:13:03:00,10:13:06:18,10
-What have you done?
-They're scum!
10:13:06:21,10:13:08:23,11
He's dead.
10:13:09:14,10:13:13:23,10
We've killed four.
Now it's time for the fifth.
10:13:14:01,10:13:16:19,11
Bastard!
SEDAT TEKIN:
10:13:31:14,10:13:35:04,11
I got back the body of my son -
10:13:35:07,10:13:40:08,10
- from the forensic examiners
in this state. He had been lynched.
10:13:40:11,10:13:43:22,11
What had my son, Murat, -
10:13:44:00,10:13:49:18,10
- done to deserve to be killed in this manner?
10:13:50:10,10:13:54:18,10
I didn't leave my son to them in this state.
10:13:54:21,10:13:59:12,10
Murat was in excellent shape when he joined the military.
SEVKIYE TEKIN:
10:14:03:01,10:14:07:04,10
He wasn't a thug.
He was full of compassion.
10:14:08:04,10:14:11:05,11
That was how he was like.
10:14:11:08,10:14:17:22,10
He chose to attend military academy, even though he was a peaceful person.
10:14:18:00,10:14:20:03,11
And he did great.
SEDAT TEKIN:
10:14:22:13,10:14:27:04,10
We hardly recognised him when we found him.
10:14:27:07,10:14:32:23,10
But he had a deep notch
in one nail because he bit his nails.
10:14:33:20,10:14:40:11,10
That was the first clue. The second clue was three birthmarks on his face.
10:14:40:14,10:14:47:16,10
Even though his face was swollen,
we recognised those three birthmarks.
10:14:47:19,10:14:50:14,11
He was given a peaceful burial.
SEVKIYE TEKIN:
10:15:15:04,10:15:21:18,10
I hope the truth will be revealed so it'll
be easier for us, and you may find peace.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:15:23:03,10:15:29:13,10
Why were none of the people who lynched the soldiers on the bridge indicted, -
10:15:29:16,10:15:34:17,10
- when most of the soldiers who survived were sentenced to life in prison?
10:15:36:15,10:15:40:15,11
All these soldiers did was follow orders.
10:15:40:18,10:15:44:12,11
Though from whom we still have no idea.
SEDAT TEKIN:
10:15:45:09,10:15:51:17,10
The aim was to turn the cadets against the police and the civilians, -
10:15:51:20,10:15:54:01,11
- and then sacrifice them.
10:15:54:04,10:15:58:23,10
It was the president who called these murderers to arms -
10:15:59:01,10:16:05:03,10
- when he got out his phone
and told people to "take to the streets".
10:16:05:06,10:16:10:21,10
With "people", he wasn't talking about ordinary flag-waving citizens.
10:16:10:24,10:16:14:10,10
"People" were members of the SADAT militia.
10:16:14:13,10:16:20:21,10
The SADAT militia is very well trained and serves as his private army.
10:16:22:00,10:16:27:19,11
Tayyip Erdogan dispatched these killers -
10:16:27:22,10:16:32:21,10
- with batons, knives, machetes and swords.
10:16:32:24,10:16:39:19,10
They tortured him to death before they lynched his corpse.
10:16:39:22,10:16:42:20,11
The killers made him a martyr.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:17:00:22,10:17:04:21,10
The navy also received orders to leave port that evening -
10:17:04:24,10:17:08:07,11
- due to a possible terror attack.
10:17:08:10,10:17:13:09,10
At the same time as the soldiers were ordered to the bridge.
10:17:13:12,10:17:17:04,10
The captains on the ships claim they had no idea -
10:17:17:07,10:17:21:09,10
- they would be accused of being part of a coup attempt.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:17:26:15,10:17:30:22,10
In the evening of July 15, all vessels were notified -
10:17:31:00,10:17:34:23,10
- there was a danger of sabotage or terrorist strikes.
10:17:35:01,10:17:41:14,10
The commanding officers all reacted to the information by moving to open waters.
10:17:42:10,10:17:46:04,11
You don't need a full crew to do this.
10:17:46:07,10:17:50:13,10
You only need the staff on watch. If I was planning a coup, -
10:17:50:16,10:17:56:00,10
- why would I have left with a crew of 50 when the ship can take 200?
10:18:01:04,10:18:05:07,11
In the chaos, our first priority -
10:18:05:10,10:18:08:24,10
- was to get away from Izmit and Gölcük, -
10:18:09:02,10:18:12:22,11
- to a safe position in the Marmara Sea.
10:18:13:00,10:18:19:13,10
We waited at a secure location. We hadn't been deployed to attack specific targets.
10:18:19:16,10:18:26:21,10
None of us received orders to go anywhere in particular.
10:18:29:14,10:18:33:00,11
We got a radio message from port.
10:18:33:03,10:18:38:24,10
It said that any vessels trying to return would be fired upon.
10:18:39:15,10:18:42:15,11
It wasn't safe to return to Gölcük.
10:18:42:18,10:18:47:17,10
The only logical course of action was to remain at sea.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:18:48:15,10:18:52:18,10
We've gained access to
all the logs of the battleships, -
10:18:52:21,10:18:58:07,10
- showing exactly when and where they were in the Sea of Marmara that night.
10:19:00:01,10:19:03:10,10
Different and contradictory messages to the ships -
10:19:03:13,10:19:07:01,10
- led to meaningless manoeuvres and chaos.
10:19:07:04,10:19:13:01,10
None of the battleships fired a single shot that night.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:19:13:12,10:19:19:03,10
If I had supported the coup against Erdogan, I would have acted differently.
10:19:19:06,10:19:26:00,10
They say I tried to attack Istanbul with the ammunition we had aboard the ship.
10:19:26:03,10:19:32:07,10
But ammunition of that calibre wouldn't have left a single bridge standing.
10:19:32:10,10:19:34:22,11
Neither Osmangazi nor Bosporus.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:19:36:17,10:19:42:03,10
One of the most fascinating events that night still remains a mystery.
10:19:42:06,10:19:46:04,10
Bülent Bostanoglu was
the chief of the Turkish navy.
10:19:46:18,10:19:52:13,10
At 11:11 p.m., when chaos reigned and the officers desperately needed answers, -
10:19:52:16,10:19:58:00,10
- he turned off his phone.
While the battleships were out at sea, -
10:19:58:03,10:20:02:05,10
- their commanding officer suddenly disappears.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:20:02:08,10:20:08:12,10
At almost the same time as the president's speech, Bostanoglu turned off his phone.
10:20:08:15,10:20:11:20,11
After the speech he turned it on again.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:20:12:22,10:20:19:12,10
Finally, at 1:17 a.m.,
he turns his phone back on again.
10:20:19:15,10:20:23:20,10
When the so-called coup attempt was already over.
10:20:24:18,10:20:27:24,10
What was Bostanoglu doing in the meantime?
10:20:34:21,10:20:40:11,10
According to his own testimony, he sat in a car in a parking lot in Istanbul -
10:20:40:14,10:20:45:07,10
- and waited while
the entire country was in chaos.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:20:45:10,10:20:48:04,11
The supreme commander of the navy.
10:20:48:07,10:20:53:06,10
He has four stars.
There's nobody above him.
10:20:53:09,10:20:57:06,10
All he had to do
was send one single message:
10:20:57:09,10:21:03:03,10
"The navy is not involved in this coup attempt or any related activities."
10:21:03:19,10:21:10:08,10
If he'd simply sent this message,
this whole mess would have been over.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:21:12:02,10:21:15:12,11
Then, at 9:06 that morning, -
10:21:15:15,10:21:19:12,10
- he ordered the fleet of ships back to port.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:21:19:15,10:21:24:19,10
The chaos continued until morning, when we finally heard from Bostanoglu.
10:21:24:22,10:21:29:07,10
It was reassuring that someone finally had taken command.
10:21:29:10,10:21:35:22,10
I wasn't at all worried about being arrested when we returned to port, -
10:21:36:00,10:21:39:00,11
- because I had done nothing wrong.
10:21:39:03,10:21:45:17,10
We had sailed to the safest possible position to protect the ships.
10:21:45:20,10:21:49:11,10
The other ships also returned and anchored up.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:21:51:00,10:21:56:06,10
Bostanoglu since became a hero and is now retired.
10:21:58:23,10:22:04:22,10
Apparently, the navy neither participated in nor hindered the coup attempt.
10:22:05:17,10:22:10:10,10
Like the soldiers on the bridge, all the captains and crew did, -
10:22:10:13,10:22:12:23,11
- was follow orders.
10:22:13:21,10:22:20:03,10
Nevertheless, more than
2500 navy officers and soldiers -
10:22:20:06,10:22:24:01,11
- have been either fired or imprisoned.
ANONYMOUS 2:
10:22:27:02,10:22:31:22,10
I was on duty abroad
on the evening of July 15.
10:22:32:00,10:22:38:12,10
Later that night, we received reports
of strange events taking place in Turkey.
10:22:38:15,10:22:43:15,11
A month later, my tour of duty was over.
10:22:43:18,10:22:48:13,11
I returned to Turkey as planned.
10:22:49:11,10:22:52:13,11
When I arrived, I was detained.
10:22:52:16,10:22:59:05,10
I was accused of murder, assault, vandalism -
10:22:59:08,10:23:03:12,10
- and being a member of a terrorist organisation.
10:23:03:15,10:23:07:09,11
I wasn't even in Turkey on July 15.
10:23:07:12,10:23:14:03,10
They still claim that I killed one person, assaulted others and was detained for it.
10:23:14:06,10:23:19:09,10
I filed repeated complaints with the public prosecutor.
10:23:19:12,10:23:23:00,11
And every time I was unlawfully punished.
10:23:23:03,10:23:26:00,11
I refused to back down, -
10:23:26:03,10:23:30:22,10
- and was finally dismissed from the Turkish armed forces.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:23:38:19,10:23:44:03,10
After 15 July, we continued our work for one or two months.
10:23:44:06,10:23:48:11,10
Then Turkey called us back without stating any reason.
10:23:48:14,10:23:54:09,10
But I learned that a prosecutor had started an investigation of us.
10:23:54:12,10:24:00:00,10
Then I understood that returning to Turkey was not a solution.
10:24:00:03,10:24:02:04,11
So I stayed here.
10:24:02:07,10:24:07:14,10
I'm trying to understand the reason why there's an investigation of me.
10:24:07:17,10:24:12:03,11
At that night, 15 July, we were here.
10:24:12:06,10:24:15:24,10
We didn't participate in anything related to the coup.
10:24:16:02,10:24:20:06,11
So why is there an investigation of us?
ANONYMOUS 2:
10:24:30:22,10:24:37:08,10
What you did or didn't do in Turkey on July 15 is completely irrelevant.
10:24:38:14,10:24:45:12,10
Prior to the coup, the Turkish government profiled 2.5 million citizens.
10:24:47:09,10:24:52:06,10
Lists were drawn up based on an investigation of the relatives -
10:24:52:09,10:24:55:04,11
- of over 2.5 million people.
10:24:55:07,10:24:59:17,10
They charted bank accounts, places of work, education.
10:24:59:20,10:25:05:07,10
Investigated which schools people had attended.
10:25:07:00,10:25:11:15,10
They're arresting people based on who they've -
10:25:11:18,10:25:15:10,10
- had phone conversations with the past two years.
10:25:15:13,10:25:21:01,10
All this is done using the lists that were prepared in advance.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:25:23:01,10:25:28:07,10
The day after the coup, they arrested people who hadn't been involved in it.
10:25:28:10,10:25:34:09,10
So I understood that the process going on is different, not related to the coup.
10:25:34:12,10:25:37:15,10
They have a list.
A long list.
10:25:37:18,10:25:42:19,10
And it's a dismissal process.
A purge process. That's what I see.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:25:44:12,10:25:49:04,10
The soldiers and the officers were only the beginning.
10:25:49:07,10:25:55:15,10
On the very night that the coup attempt unfolded, the mass arrests began.
10:26:07:00,10:26:13:00,10
Within the first 24 hours alone, several thousand people were arrested.
10:26:15:03,10:26:19:21,10
How was it possible to begin arresting people so soon?
10:26:22:22,10:26:26:19,10
This document from public prosecutor Serdar Coskun -
10:26:26:22,10:26:29:22,11
- formed the basis for the early arrests.
10:26:30:00,10:26:36:17,10
The document is signed 1 a.m. on the night of the coup, in the middle of the chaos.
10:26:36:20,10:26:42:17,10
How could the authorities know who was behind an ongoing military campaign -
10:26:42:20,10:26:46:11,11
- without any form of investigation?
10:26:46:14,10:26:51:20,10
Upon closer inspection
we find several errors in the letter.
10:26:51:23,10:26:58:02,10
It actually describes events that never even happened. For example:
10:26:58:05,10:27:02:21,10
"Troops surrounded the National Intelligence Organisation, MIT," -
10:27:02:24,10:27:06:20,10
- "in Yenimahalle, Ankara. The personnel of MIT" -
10:27:06:23,10:27:12:02,10
- "and the soldiers who surrounded the buildings engaged in combat."
10:27:12:05,10:27:16:07,10
"The Special Forces Command in Gölbasi was bombed."
10:27:16:10,10:27:21:07,10
"The Police Intelligence Bureau was targeted by an air strike."
10:27:21:10,10:27:27:09,10
"The Ankara Police HQ was surrounded and breached by armoured units."
10:27:27:12,10:27:31:21,11
"The Presidential Complex was surrounded."
10:27:31:24,10:27:35:20,10
The prosecutor has confirmed the document is real, but claims -
10:27:35:23,10:27:40:05,10
- that the time of the signing was in fact 7 a.m.
10:27:40:08,10:27:45:22,10
That makes it even more suspicious. Why did he write about all these events -
10:27:46:00,10:27:49:02,10
- that never happened? Could it be -
10:27:49:05,10:27:55:04,10
- that it was written before the coup so arrests could begin as soon as possible?
10:27:58:03,10:28:03:00,10
In addition to a general, official arrest warrant, lists had to be made -
10:28:03:03,10:28:05:13,11
- of who should be arrested.
10:28:05:16,10:28:12:00,10
As many have pointed out, these lists had to be prepared well in advance.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:28:12:02,10:28:17:06,10
I don't know why they put all of us on that list. The reason can be that -
10:28:17:09,10:28:21:24,10
- we got an education related to Western democratic understanding.
10:28:22:02,10:28:26:22,10
Maybe they don't want this, need a purge, not just in the military, -
10:28:27:00,10:28:32:19,10
- also in police departments,
in prosecution, the judicial system.
10:28:32:22,10:28:36:20,10
In every area they must exchange the person, -
10:28:36:23,10:28:41:02,10
- and they will start to conduct a different policy.
10:28:41:05,10:28:44:12,11
We must talk about who prepared that list.
10:28:47:13,10:28:52:01,10
There's a person,
a party leader: Perincek.
10:28:54:04,10:28:59:19,10
He's saying, "We're behind the purge. We prepared all those lists."
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:29:01:07,10:29:05:20,10
We had to talk to Perincek
to find out more about these lists.
10:29:08:00,10:29:11:05,11
Dogu Perincek leads the Vatan Partisi, -
10:29:11:08,10:29:14:22,10
- which has cooperated with President Erdogan.
10:29:15:00,10:29:20:01,10
He has strong connections to Russia, China and Iran.
10:29:20:04,10:29:24:13,10
These connections
have made him very influential.
DOGU PERINCEK:
10:29:25:21,10:29:31:22,10
While they were in prison, our commanders investigated infiltrators from FETÖ -
10:29:32:00,10:29:38:21,10
- in the military, because it was FETÖ who got us arrested.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:29:40:17,10:29:44:15,10
FETÖ is the nickname Erdogan has given the supporters -
10:29:44:18,10:29:47:09,11
- of preacher Fethullah Gülen.
10:29:47:12,10:29:52:08,10
FETÖ stands for
"Fethullah Terror Organization".
DOGU PERINCEK:
10:29:53:06,10:29:58:16,10
People from all branches of the military and the paramilitary police, -
10:29:58:19,10:30:02:14,10
- helped prepare
the lists over FETÖ members.
10:30:02:17,10:30:09:09,10
Everyone had access to our lists.
We even published them in our newspaper.
10:30:09:12,10:30:15:24,10
So our list wasn't a list of the people who stood behind the coup that night.
10:30:16:02,10:30:21:04,10
But all the people behind the coup were on our list.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:30:23:11,10:30:28:23,10
These lists don't just include
the supporters of Fethullah Gülen.
10:30:29:01,10:30:33:24,11
Also Kemalists, Kurds, Marxists, -
10:30:34:02,10:30:41:00,10
- academics and journalists are now listed as enemies of President Erdogan.
10:30:43:23,10:30:47:17,10
Even people who have criticized Gülen for years -
10:30:47:20,10:30:51:15,10
- are now being branded
as Gülenists by the president.
10:30:54:01,10:30:57:23,11
But who is Fethullah Gülen really?
10:30:58:11,10:31:02:00,10
What is certain is that he's a contentious figure, -
10:31:02:03,10:31:06:16,10
- and that he's lived in exile
in the United States since 1999.
10:31:09:22,10:31:12:20,11
Gülen's supporters call him a peaceful, -
10:31:12:23,10:31:16:20,10
- spiritual builder
of bridges between faiths.
10:31:16:23,10:31:22:15,10
His critics, however, characterize him as a conman who seeks to control -
10:31:22:18,10:31:27:10,10
- both market and state through his interreligious network.
GPS VOICE:
10:31:29:06,10:31:31:14,11
You have arrived at your destination.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:31:31:17,10:31:35:22,10
We were curious as to what
the preacher himself had to say -
10:31:36:00,10:31:39:24,10
- about the accusations from President Erdogan.
FETHULLAH GULEN:
10:32:02:19,10:32:06:07,11
All the regime cares about, is loyalty.
10:32:06:10,10:32:10:12,10
They have no room for people with other opinions.
10:32:10:15,10:32:14:24,10
It doesn't matter whether you're a social democrat, -
10:32:15:02,10:32:19:19,11
- support the former Justice Party, -
10:32:19:22,10:32:24:00,10
- if you're a Christian, Alevi or Sunni Muslim.
10:32:24:03,10:32:31:17,10
If you're not loyal to the regime, you're regarded as an enemy.
10:32:31:20,10:32:35:04,11
And this movement is their main enemy.
10:32:35:07,10:32:40:23,10
I'm sorry to have to say so,
but they've made us the scapegoat.
10:32:41:01,10:32:46:06,10
Everyone with the family name Gülen has been thrown into prison.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:32:49:02,10:32:55:01,10
What's surprising is that Erdogan
and Gülen worked together for ten years.
10:32:55:18,10:33:02:00,10
From the time Erdogan came to power in 2002, they were like brothers in arms.
FETHULLAH GULEN:
10:33:03:02,10:33:08:19,10
He came to me to ask for advice on how to set up a new party.
10:33:08:22,10:33:13:17,10
He talked about justice, equality and patriotic values.
10:33:13:20,10:33:19:13,10
The Turkish military has had huge power. I told them he should be -
10:33:19:16,10:33:24:13,10
- extremely cautious
when dealing with the military.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:33:27:06,10:33:31:23,10
The fascinating relationship between Gülen and Erdogan was really -
10:33:32:01,10:33:35:06,11
- each making a pact with the devil.
10:33:35:09,10:33:41:04,10
Erdogan needed cadres when he came to power, so he brought in the Gülenists.
10:33:41:07,10:33:47:12,10
The two worked exceedingly well together. They had one common enemy: the military.
10:33:47:15,10:33:53:06,10
But philosophically they're very, very different from each other.
10:33:53:09,10:33:56:15,10
Erdogan is closer to
the Muslim Brotherhood.
10:33:56:18,10:34:01:04,10
Gülen is the Sufi tradition
that comes from inside Turkey.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:34:03:24,10:34:06:06,11
But then came the divorce.
10:34:06:09,10:34:10:20,10
For ever since December 2013, when Gülen's supporters -
10:34:10:23,10:34:16:17,10
- supplied proof of widespread corruption in the government and Erdogan's family, -
10:34:16:20,10:34:20:22,10
- Erdogan has sought
to destroy the Gülenists.
FETHULLAH GULEN:
10:34:21:00,10:34:25:00,10
We never imagined he would become so extreme, -
10:34:25:03,10:34:28:00,11
- and accuse us of terrorism.
10:34:28:03,10:34:31:23,10
I know that it's possible to hypnotise an individual.
10:34:32:01,10:34:37:10,10
But I don't understand how it's possible to create an illusion that can -
10:34:37:13,10:34:43:09,10
- hypnotise an entire population.
I think that's what has happened now.
10:34:45:20,10:34:48:04,11
We believed in him.
10:34:48:07,10:34:51:22,11
Even though I had some reservations, -
10:34:52:00,10:34:55:20,11
- I encouraged my friends to support him.
10:34:55:23,10:35:00:02,10
It was a sin.
Now we're paying the price.
10:35:00:16,10:35:07:01,10
I think the suffering will continue until a strong opposition emerges.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:35:09:02,10:35:12:15,10
Gülenists have evidently had a huge influence -
10:35:12:18,10:35:16:14,10
- on the state administration and the courts.
10:35:16:17,10:35:19:17,11
But what about the military?
HENRI BARKEY:
10:35:20:10,10:35:24:12,10
I don't think there were many high-ranking Gülenist officers.
10:35:24:15,10:35:30:13,10
Gülen was trying to put his own people everywhere. So why not the military?
10:35:30:16,10:35:34:03,11
But the way the system works in Turkey, -
10:35:34:06,10:35:38:22,10
- you go through so many steps before you become a general.
10:35:39:00,10:35:44:18,10
I doubt very much that there were any high-ranking generals that were Gülenists.
ANONYMOUS 1:
10:35:45:15,10:35:48:24,11
No one can claim that I'm a Gülenist!
10:35:49:02,10:35:53:06,10
Four years in college.
Eight years at the military academy.
10:35:53:09,10:35:59:22,10
Then you slowly rise through the ranks. The Turkish military isn't that large.
10:36:00:00,10:36:03:24,11
Everybody knows almost everybody else.
10:36:04:02,10:36:08:19,11
It would very soon come to light -
10:36:08:22,10:36:14:07,11
- if someone had Gülenist sympathies.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:36:14:10,10:36:18:23,10
Look at the 200 officers who were kicked out after the coup.
10:36:19:01,10:36:23:20,10
All these Western-educated officers who came out from NATO colleges.
10:36:23:23,10:36:28:20,10
Those are the least likely officers to be Gülenists.
10:36:28:23,10:36:34:09,10
They don't like the Gülenists. I mean, is Fethullah Gülen -
10:36:34:12,10:36:39:09,10
- the primary mover behind the coup? I find that hard to believe.
10:36:39:12,10:36:42:20,11
But it was a gift to Erdogan.
10:36:42:23,10:36:49:09,10
Because that allowed him
to really cleanse the bureaucracy, -
10:36:49:12,10:36:55:21,10
- the police, the judiciary. Now he has his own people. And you see the results.
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN:
10:36:57:15,10:37:03:05,10
In the middle of all these events, there may be hidden advantages.
10:37:03:08,10:37:08:13,11
This incident is a great gift from God.
10:37:08:16,10:37:11:05,11
Why is it a gift from God?
10:37:11:08,10:37:19:05,10
Because it provides us the opportunity to clean up the Turkish military.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:37:21:17,10:37:27:09,10
You would think that Erdogan would have solid proof before publicly accusing -
10:37:27:12,10:37:31:09,10
- an organization of terrorism and attempting a coup.
10:37:33:00,10:37:36:00,11
But the evidence is flimsy.
10:37:37:00,10:37:41:00,10
The main source of the accusations against Gülen -
10:37:41:03,10:37:45:18,10
- is the interrogation
of Lt. Col. Levent Türkkan.
10:37:45:21,10:37:50:04,10
The news agency Anadolu published Türkkan's statement -
10:37:50:07,10:37:55:19,10
- a few days after the coup attempt,
where he claims Gülen was behind the coup.
10:37:57:15,10:38:04:01,10
Anadolu had no problem revealing signs of extensive torture from the interrogation.
10:38:06:16,10:38:11:23,10
Other than this, there's been nothing but assumptions and speculation.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:38:13:05,10:38:17:23,10
The Turks say they sent lots
of documentation about Gülen proving -
10:38:18:01,10:38:21:02,11
- that he was involved in the coup.
10:38:21:05,10:38:25:06,10
But there is nothing, absolutely nothing there.
10:38:25:09,10:38:30:01,10
They're poorly written. They're made up. There is no proof.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:38:31:10,10:38:34:22,10
Several Western intelligence agencies have stated -
10:38:35:00,10:38:38:23,10
- that Gülen had nothing to do with the coup.
10:38:40:01,10:38:44:18,10
In an interview with the German newspaper Spiegel, Bruno Kahl, -
10:38:44:21,10:38:48:13,10
- President of the Federal Intelligence Service in Germany, said -
10:38:48:16,10:38:53:03,10
- there was no convincing argument C1N03 for Gülen's involvement.
10:39:00:01,10:39:06:07,10
We contacted Bruno Kahl and confirmed his statement. In his interview, -
10:39:06:10,10:39:11:09,10
- he says he doesn't believe the coup was staged by the government either.
10:39:11:12,10:39:17:07,10
But when asked who might then be behind the coup, he declined to comment.
10:39:18:23,10:39:23:03,10
So far, no one has answered that question.
10:39:32:03,10:39:37:04,10
Whether or not this really was
a coup attempt, remains unclear.
10:39:37:18,10:39:42:07,10
Many believe Erdogan, along
with high-ranking military officers, -
10:39:42:10,10:39:46:19,10
- planned the coup himself. Others believe the coup attempt -
10:39:46:22,10:39:51:21,10
- was simply a golden opportunity for him to get rid of his opponents.
10:39:51:24,10:39:57:08,10
What's the truth is hard to say, but our sources tell us that the government -
10:39:57:11,10:40:03:02,10
- knew of the planned coup
well in advance - but still let it happen.
DOGU PERINCEK:
10:40:04:03,10:40:07:11,11
We know for certain -
10:40:07:14,10:40:12:01,10
- that Tayyip Erdogan knew about the coup before it happened.
10:40:12:04,10:40:19:07,10
Before the coup, Atilla Ugur,
an important army commander, came to me -
10:40:19:10,10:40:22:22,11
- and said that the terrorists in FETÖ -
10:40:23:00,10:40:30:03,10
- were planning a coup. He knew when
it was supposed to happen, and told me -
10:40:30:06,10:40:38:07,10
- that the FETÖ militants were planning to carry it out before August 1.
10:40:38:10,10:40:45:09,10
I asked him to pass this information on to Yeni Safak, -
10:40:45:12,10:40:49:21,10
- the newspaper closest to Erdogan. In addition to this, -
10:40:49:24,10:40:55:02,10
- the Russian nationalist Alexandr Dugin was also in Turkey at the time.
10:40:55:05,10:41:00:05,10
He said that unexpected troop movements within the Turkish army -
10:41:00:08,10:41:05:14,10
- had been observed by
the Russian intelligence services.
10:41:05:17,10:41:09:00,11
Dugin had come to Turkey -
10:41:09:03,10:41:14:19,10
- for talks with Prime Minister Yildirim and Erdogan's advisors.
10:41:14:22,10:41:19:24,10
I asked Dugin to convey what he had heard -
10:41:20:02,10:41:24:13,11
- to them during these meetings.
10:41:24:16,10:41:28:13,11
I met Alexandr Dugin again later.
10:41:28:16,10:41:35:04,10
I asked Dugin if he'd told them about it. He said he had.
10:41:35:07,10:41:41:24,10
In other words, we knew about
the coup attempt before it happened.
10:41:42:02,10:41:48:17,10
We informed Erdogan's government about it through two separate channels.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:41:58:09,10:42:02:07,10
The coup attempt gave Erdogan almost complete power.
10:42:03:18,10:42:08:24,10
He has used this power to make Turkey an increasingly authoritarian regime.
ANONYMOUS 2:
10:42:10:21,10:42:15:16,10
Erdogan's regime has discarded the republican values, -
10:42:15:19,10:42:18:13,11
- and made Turkey a dictatorship.
10:42:18:16,10:42:23:14,10
Erdogan controls 95 % of the media in Turkey.
10:42:27:06,10:42:32:24,10
Everyone outside Erdogan's circle, whether they're socialists, conservatives, -
10:42:33:02,10:42:38:23,10
- religious, atheists, secular
or nationalists, has nothing to say.
10:42:39:11,10:42:46:16,10
If they put their ideas into action, they're immediately silenced.
10:42:48:21,10:42:51:11,11
It's complete social genocide.
10:42:51:14,10:42:57:06,10
It's like a medieval witch hunt. The eradication of civil society.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:42:58:24,10:43:05:13,10
During World War II, refugee routes were established between Norway and Sweden -
10:43:05:16,10:43:10:21,10
- to give rebels and Jews a chance to survive the Nazi reign of terror.
10:43:12:22,10:43:17:12,10
Today similar routes have been established out of Turkey.
10:43:18:14,10:43:21:12,11
How many have fled is hard to say.
10:43:21:15,10:43:27:06,10
But several hundred thousand have left the country since 2016.
10:43:27:09,10:43:32:07,10
Many flee imprisonment, social genocide and torture.
ENES (9):
10:43:36:10,10:43:41:23,10
We had to try twice, because the first smuggler we had was so clumsy.
10:43:42:01,10:43:48:20,10
He couldn't even inflate the raft himself. Then he managed to break an oar.
10:43:49:10,10:43:53:21,10
We spun around with one oar and ended up back in Turkey.
10:43:53:24,10:43:57:23,10
It was really dramatic.
"Is that a car approaching?"
10:43:58:01,10:44:00:14,11
"Will we get caught?"
10:44:00:17,10:44:05:18,10
-It was scary, but exciting.
BIRGUL KOCAL:
10:44:00:17,10:44:05:18,10
-But what if they'd caught us?
ENES (9):
10:44:05:21,10:44:11:20,10
If they'd caught us,
we'd be living in prison now.
BIRGUL KOCAL:
10:44:20:09,10:44:24:01,10
I was in custody for ages. It was exhausting.
10:44:24:04,10:44:27:20,10
I was imprisoned in August in a cell with 48 others.
10:44:27:23,10:44:32:17,10
I don't exaggerate when I say that we slept in a foetal position.
10:44:32:20,10:44:38:03,10
I had a woman's bottom squeezed against my belly, my legs between her knees.
10:44:40:11,10:44:44:21,10
The lights in the prison cell were always on.
10:44:44:24,10:44:48:19,10
Couldn't tell day from night. Hungry and thirsty.
10:44:48:22,10:44:51:09,11
It was mental torture.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:44:52:02,10:44:56:22,10
Birgul and her husband had secure jobs in the Turkish civil service, -
10:44:57:00,10:45:00:07,10
- and had nothing to do with the attempted coup.
10:45:00:10,10:45:06:04,10
Both were jailed shortly afterwards. She remained in prison for ten months.
10:45:07:13,10:45:13:12,10
They fled to save their family
from persecution and additional arrests.
BIRGUL KOCAL:
10:45:13:15,10:45:19:01,10
The psychological conditions were terrible. But I'm above all a mother.
10:45:21:05,10:45:25:16,10
I'll never forget the first time they came to see me.
10:45:25:19,10:45:29:21,10
Nail, my youngest son, was three years old.
10:45:29:24,10:45:33:07,11
He only wanted to be with me.
10:45:33:20,10:45:37:04,10
The iron door opened.
I went inside.
10:45:37:07,10:45:41:10,10
I put my son on my lap, gave him a big hug.
10:45:41:13,10:45:48:01,10
He kissed me, kept looking at me
to make sure I really was his mother.
10:45:48:04,10:45:53:00,11
When the bell rang, I had to leave.
10:45:53:03,10:45:57:22,10
I wanted to touch my son, hug him, kiss him, smell him.
10:45:58:00,10:46:02:22,10
He refused to leave me. Held on to my collar like this.
10:46:03:00,10:46:06:17,10
Then the guard came and told me I had to leave my son.
10:46:06:20,10:46:12:09,10
I had to force him to let go.
He tried to grab me with his other hand.
10:46:12:12,10:46:17:07,10
When the guard led me away, I felt dead inside.
10:46:18:01,10:46:22:08,10
He cried on one side of the iron door. I cried on the other.
10:46:22:11,10:46:27:21,10
It's heart-breaking for a mother
to have to force her own child away.
10:46:27:24,10:46:31:07,11
I'll never forget how he cried.
10:46:43:20,10:46:48:07,10
It's difficult to come to terms with what we've been through.
10:46:48:10,10:46:52:03,10
I was a civil servant, only a civil servant.
10:46:55:12,10:46:59:07,11
And a mother of two children.
10:47:00:09,10:47:02:21,11
Now I'm a refugee.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:47:05:24,10:47:10:03,10
The purge after the coup has been relentless.
10:47:10:06,10:47:14:19,10
The extent of arrests and dismissals looks more like the Nazi persecution -
10:47:14:22,10:47:19:13,10
- of the Jews in the 30s than a judicial process.
MERDAN YANARDAG:
10:47:19:16,10:47:25:01,10
Turkey is not evolving into a more democratic regime. On the contrary.
10:47:25:04,10:47:31:19,10
Turkey is evolving into a dictatorship, a fundamentalist Islamist dictatorship.
10:47:31:22,10:47:35:03,11
It's becoming a fascist dictatorship.
10:47:35:16,10:47:41:13,10
Erdogan has said, "Democracy is a tram, and we're getting off at the next stop."
10:47:41:16,10:47:45:11,10
And after the coup attempt, he got off the tram.
10:47:45:14,10:47:51:09,10
He actually got off a lot earlier, as soon as he came to power.
10:47:51:12,10:47:54:24,11
He called it "a gift from God", -
10:47:55:02,10:47:59:09,10
- because he saw the opportunities it opened up for him.
NEVSIN MENGU:
10:48:01:09,10:48:06:00,10
They used it as an excuse to install a one-man regime.
10:48:06:03,10:48:12:17,10
Now the whole system in Turkey is designed to protect only one guy: Mr. Erdogan.
10:48:13:06,10:48:16:20,10
He's the red line.
You can't contradict him.
10:48:16:23,10:48:22:21,10
You have to do whatever he says. That's the new Turkish state.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:48:24:23,10:48:31:00,10
After the coup attempt, Ahmet Sik was jailed for 16 months, accused -
10:48:31:03,10:48:36:22,10
- of supporting terrorism after critical articles in the newspaper Cumhuriyet.
AHMET SIK:
10:48:39:13,10:48:45:12,10
We live in a country with plenty
of newspapers and several TV stations.
10:48:45:15,10:48:50:02,10
But there's only one voice that makes itself heard.
10:48:50:15,10:48:56:05,10
The head of the most important Turkish media is also the country's president.
10:48:56:08,10:49:03:01,10
All media organisations,
especially the most mainstream media, -
10:49:03:04,10:49:08:00,10
- are under government control
or have been forced to their knees.
10:49:08:03,10:49:14:00,10
This is because the autocratic dictatorship that Erdogan has in mind -
10:49:14:03,10:49:18:07,10
- can only be achieved by changing the media message.
10:49:18:10,10:49:23:07,10
They have managed to silence the entire Turkish population.
10:49:26:24,10:49:33:02,10
I'm sure that the orders to criminally prosecute journalists come from him -
10:49:33:05,10:49:36:12,11
- or from his close advisors.
NEVSIN MENGU:
10:49:39:00,10:49:44:09,10
I have sleepless nights. They don't need an explanation to arrest you.
10:49:44:12,10:49:48:09,10
Or any excuse.
If they want to, they'll arrest you.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:49:49:01,10:49:54:19,10
The sheer number of people who have been purged and prosecuted is shocking.
10:50:57:21,10:51:03:06,10
The coup attempt hasn't only had domestic consequences.
10:51:03:09,10:51:08:24,10
Erdogan's power grab and purge has also led to an extensive shift -
10:51:09:02,10:51:12:20,10
- away from the West and towards Russia.
10:51:14:14,10:51:21:05,10
NATO-friendly officers have been
thrown out and replaced by pro-Russian.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:51:21:18,10:51:25:15,10
I think a radicalisation process is going on in Turkey.
10:51:25:18,10:51:29:12,10
When the public becomes radicalised, they need an enemy.
10:51:29:15,10:51:36:08,10
Now the government is using NATO, Western countries or FETÖ as an enemy.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:51:37:08,10:51:44:07,10
There were two narratives that came out from Erdogan. One was the evil Gülenists -
10:51:44:10,10:51:49:05,10
- trying to overthrow the regime, about rallying around one leader.
10:51:49:08,10:51:55:02,10
But there was also a very anti-Western, anti-American message after the coup.
10:51:55:05,10:51:59:22,10
"We are under attack.
Not by the Russians, the Chinese," -
10:52:00:00,10:52:03:10,10
- "not by ISIS,
but by the US and the West."
DOGU PERINCEK:
10:52:04:17,10:52:10:20,10
The only country that threatens Turkey, is America. There are no others.
10:52:10:23,10:52:16:05,10
America supports PKK. America supports ISIS.
10:52:16:08,10:52:19:05,11
America supports FETÖ.
10:52:19:08,10:52:25:03,10
That's why Turkey has started to find its place among Asian countries, -
10:52:25:06,10:52:31:00,10
- and initiated the formation of
a counterforce to NATO and America.
10:52:31:03,10:52:33:17,11
This is inevitable.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:52:35:05,10:52:41:06,10
Turkey is now putting distance between itself and the European countries, NATO.
10:52:41:09,10:52:45:00,10
This means that Turkey is seeking a new alliance.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:52:46:09,10:52:50:00,10
We are in a serious crisis with the Turks over -
10:52:50:03,10:52:55:08,10
- the S-400 missiles that
they're going to buy from Russia.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:52:55:11,10:52:59:24,10
Turkey is trying to buy S-400
air defence missiles from Russia.
10:53:00:02,10:53:07:02,10
As a NATO country, Turkey can't buy any guns or air defence systems from Russia.
DOGU PERINCEK:
10:53:08:09,10:53:13:10,10
Why is Turkey buying the S-400 system? They must defend themselves -
10:53:13:13,10:53:16:17,11
- against America and NATO.
10:53:16:20,10:53:21:19,10
You can't protect Turkey against NATO with NATO weapons.
10:53:21:22,10:53:27:22,10
Because NATO's weapon systems are controlled by America, -
10:53:28:00,10:53:31:23,10
- who can override them whenever they like.
10:53:32:01,10:53:38:14,10
What should Turkey do? They need the means to defend themselves against America.
10:53:38:17,10:53:41:09,11
To stand up to America.
10:53:41:12,10:53:46:18,10
That's why purchasing the S-400 system is a strategic necessity for Turkey.
10:53:46:21,10:53:48:24,11
It's imperative -
10:53:49:02,10:53:53:21,10
- that Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Russia cooperate -
10:53:53:24,10:53:56:20,11
- against the American puppets.
10:53:56:23,10:54:02:10,10
The new defence coalition is already a reality.
10:54:02:13,10:54:08:09,10
It's not something that's meant to happen in the future. It's already happened.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:54:10:06,10:54:15:04,10
Turkey has the second largest army in NATO after the US.
10:54:15:20,10:54:21:05,10
The fact that Turkey's ties to Europe and NATO are weakening, and a new alliance -
10:54:21:08,10:54:27:19,10
- with Russia and Iran is emerging, has major geopolitical consequences.
10:54:27:22,10:54:33:15,10
Furthermore, the country is now joining the ranks of authoritarian regimes.
10:54:35:19,10:54:38:23,11
Why do western leaders remain silent?
HENRI BARKEY:
10:54:40:12,10:54:44:10,10
What's interesting,
is the extent to which the West -
10:54:44:13,10:54:50:24,10
- never wants to confront Turkey, neither about human rights nor the Middle East.
10:54:51:12,10:54:53:18,11
Nobody wants to take a chance.
JØRGEN LORENTZEN:
10:54:56:10,10:55:00:05,11
Still, the greatest tragedy -
10:55:00:08,10:55:02:13,11
- is the human one.
10:55:03:13,10:55:08:24,10
I've personally considered Turkey to be my second home the past 25 years, -
10:55:09:02,10:55:14:17,10
- and have a close relationship with this beautiful and important nation.
10:55:14:20,10:55:22:06,10
As for all those who have had to flee after what took place on July 15, 2016, -
10:55:22:09,10:55:27:19,10
- the grief over losing their homeland is almost impossible to comprehend.
HENRI BARKEY:
10:55:31:16,10:55:34:11,11
I grew up in Turkey.
10:55:34:14,10:55:36:14,11
I knew every boat -
10:55:36:17,10:55:41:21,10
- that went between Istanbul and Büyükada. I had my favourite boats.
10:55:43:10,10:55:45:05,11
Yeah.
10:55:45:08,10:55:48:19,11
I mean, it was just magic.
10:55:50:03,10:55:52:09,11
It's magic.
10:55:53:24,10:55:57:19,11
And as I said, my whole history is there.
NATO OFFICERS:
10:56:11:17,10:56:15:17,10
My child says to me,
"I want to go to Turkey."
10:56:15:20,10:56:20:12,10
Because she knows that it's sunnier. And she loves the sun.
10:56:20:15,10:56:23:24,11
She wants to swim.
10:56:24:02,10:56:30:09,10
And she says to me, "When will we go to Turkey?" I say that I don't know.
10:56:30:12,10:56:36:01,10
"But I'm sure one day this period will be over," -
10:56:36:04,10:56:39:19,11
- "and we will be able to go to Turkey."
SEDAT TEKIN:
10:56:41:14,10:56:47:05,10
I'm going to appeal it to
the European Court of Human Rights.
10:56:47:08,10:56:50:19,11
That's how I'll find justice.
AHMET SIK:
10:56:53:02,10:56:58:18,10
This government has stolen the future from the children of this country.
0585 : 10:56:58:21,10:57:03:22,10
I believe that we must work
to reclaim what they've stolen, -
10:57:04:00,10:57:09:00,10
- and preserve what they haven't been able to steal yet.
0587 : 10:57:09:03,10:57:13:03,10
It's difficult, but we all have to take risks.
ENES (9):
10:57:15:12,10:57:19:23,10
I'm going to write my story. Maybe it'll become a novel.
10:57:20:01,10:57:24:08,10
I think the first sentence I write will be:
10:57:24:11,10:57:28:18,11
"This is a true story about real people."
10:57:28:21,10:57:32:06,11
I still don't know how it'll end.