Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Thursday called on the government to explain who Adil Öksüz, the prime civilian suspect of a foiled coup attempt on July 15, really is, saying that the government has not answered the question of whether it was aware of the coup attempt before it took place or not.
“Who is this Adil Öksüz? I know who he is and they [the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government] also know who he is. I want them to provide an answer,” said Kılıçdaroğlu during a groundbreaking ceremony in Tekirdağ.
“He was caught in a military zone with a mobile phone and GPS. He was released. How is it possible that he was released, instead of being handcuffed and arrested, when he had a GPS device on him? Without knowing the answer, the coup attempt cannot be clarified.”
Öksüz is accused of being the head of the Gülen movement’s alleged network within the air force. He was briefly detained after the coup attempt and is still at large.
Insisting that the July 15 coup attempt has not yet been clarified, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “We asked [the government] whether they were aware of the coup attempt before it took place. We have not yet received an answer. We are still waiting for the answer.”
“I am sharing this for the first time. When I went to the palace [Presidential Palace] after July 15, I told them that the murderers of the soldiers who were lynched that night must be caught. They all said yes. What has happened?”
Turkey’s parliamentary Coup Commission, which was established to investigate a coup attempt on July 15, ended its work on Wednesday amid criticism from opposition parties that AKP members did not allow the commission to question people to clarify what happened on July 15.
Criticizing the government for extending a state of emergency for another three months, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “They [government] declared a state of emergency on July 20. Now they are trying to make use of the state of emergency to change the constitution and the regime. They want to switch to a dictatorial regime. They want to limit the multi-party system.”
“They ask why I did not support it. This project is a betrayal of the history of the Republic of Turkey. A betrayal of the soul of the national War of Independence.”
Kılıçdaroğlu said they would fight against the proposed constitutional amendments in Parliament starting next Monday.