Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Chairman and Sakarya deputy Şaban Dişli, brother of Maj. Gen. Mehmet Dişli, one of the key suspects in a trial concerning a failed coup in Turkey last year, was appointed head adviser for economic affairs to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In a tweet on Wednesday, AKP Sakarya provincial branch chairman Fevzi Kılıç announced that AKP Sakarya deputy Dişli had been appointed top economic affairs adviser to Erdoğan.
Dişli’s brother, Maj. Gen Dişli, is standing trial in a special court at Ankara’s Sincan Prison along with other key suspects who were accused of being the coordinators of the coup attempt from Akıncı Airbase in Ankara.
During his testimony on Aug. 11, Dişli said he was taken to Akıncı Airbase at gunpoint just as Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar was.
Denying the accusations leveled against him, Dişli said: “I experienced the same fate as Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, and I was taken to Akıncı at gunpoint. There I worked as a secretary for the chief of general staff. I neither intermediated between anyone nor put pressure on the chief to participate in the coup attempt.”
A total of 486 people accused of taking part in the coup attempt are standing trial. The suspects, who were thought to have received orders from Akıncı Airbase, were allegedly plotting to assassinate Erdoğan on the night of the coup attempt.
According to the Turkish government, Akıncı Airbase, northwest of Ankara, served as the headquarters for the plotters, and the orders to bomb Parliament and overthrow Erdoğan were sent out from there.