Türkiye will mark Wednesday the 10th anniversary of the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt carried out by members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which left 253 people dead and sought to overthrow the country's democratic order.
Presenting itself as a religious movement while infiltrating state institutions, including the Turkish Armed Forces, FETO attempted to seize power through a military coup after years of covert organization within the state.
Before the coup attempt, the group carried out several operations against the government, including attempts to summon then-National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan for questioning, the Dec. 17-25 investigations and the stopping of MIT trucks.
Following the Justice and Development (AK) Party's victory in the Nov. 1, 2015 elections and anticipating the removal of FETO-linked officers through Supreme Military Council decisions, the organization accelerated its plans.
FETO ringleader Fetullah Gulen called on members of the organization within the military to stage a coup during a televised appearance on March 19, 2016.
Senior civilian and military members later finalized preparations through meetings in Türkiye and the US, where Adil Oksuz and Kemal Batmaz presented the coup plan to Gulen before returning to Türkiye days before the operation.
Hours before the planned coup, a major serving at the Army Aviation Command informed MIT that FETO members were planning to detain Fidan. The information was relayed to then-Deputy Chief of the General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler, who informed then-Chief of the General Staff Hulusi Akar.
Akar ordered military aircraft back to their bases, closed the airspace, and instructed commanders to restrict military movements. After learning their plans had been exposed, the planned coup attempt, which was scheduled to begin at 3 am on July 16, was brought forward to 8.30 pm on July 15.
Military vehicles were deployed across Ankara as coup plotters occupied strategic sites and issued martial law orders. Staff Sgt. Bulent Aydin became the first person killed during the coup attempt after he was shot at the General Staff Headquarters.
F-16 fighter jets flew at low altitude over Ankara while soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul. Then-Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the government remained in office as prosecutors launched a criminal investigation.
Coup pilots bombed the Police Aviation Department and the Special Operations Department in Golbasi, Ankara, attacked the MIT compound in Yenimahalle and seized state broadcaster TRT to force the reading of the coup declaration.
At 12.24 am on July 16, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appeared live on CNN Turk and called on the public to take to the streets. Thousands responded, confronting coup forces across the country despite repeated attacks.
Staff Sgt. Omer Halisdemir, acting on orders from Special Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, shot coup Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi as he arrived to seize the Special Forces Command. Halisdemir was immediately killed by the accompanying coup soldiers.
The coup plotters also bombed the Turkish Grand National Assembly twice and attacked TURKSAT facilities, while police regained control of TRT and detained those occupying the broadcaster.
The violence continued into the morning before security forces regained control. Then-Prime Minister Yildirim authorized Lt. Gen. Ziya Kemal Kadioglu to shoot down aircraft controlled by the coup plotters.
Akar was rescued from Akinci Air Base, and, on Erdogan's instructions, the base's main runway was struck to prevent further takeoffs.
At 12.57 pm on July 16, Yildirim announced that the coup attempt had been suppressed. The failed coup was defeated within about 21 hours through public resistance and the actions of loyal security forces.
Official figures showed that 253 civilians and security personnel were killed. The coup plotters deployed about 9,000 military personnel, 35 aircraft, 37 helicopters, 246 armored vehicles, including 74 tanks, and nearly 4,000 light weapons.
Gulen, who founded the organization in the 1960s and fled to the US in 1999, directed the July 15 coup attempt and other operations from Pennsylvania, according to Turkish authorities.
Despite Türkiye submitting seven extradition requests covering 27 charges, US authorities did not extradite him.
Gulen died on Oct. 20, 2024, at St. Luke's Hospital's Monroe campus in Pennsylvania. His death was officially confirmed to Turkish authorities through a document conveyed by the US Department of State.
