Burhan Kuzu, a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) and an AKP İstanbul deputy, has called on prosecutors to investigate İncirlik Airbase, used by NATO, over Turkey’s botched coup attempt last summer.
Claiming that allegations about three tankers from İncirlik delivering fuel on the night of the coup attempt were credible, Kuzu called on prosecutors to investigate what happened on the base on July 15 during the coup in a social media message on Sunday.
Incirlik is a base used by NATO allies to launch air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in neighboring Syria.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor in April launched an investigation into 17 prominent US figures including Senator Chuck Schumer, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara and former CIA Director John Brenan for allegedly “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” and “attempting to overthrow the government and parliament.”
The military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch AKP government and President Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the faith based Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.