Thread by @SocialPort

Today is the third anniversary of the July 15 incident that has been described by president Erdogan himself as a “Gift from God”. He was right; the ‘coup’ has helped him more than anything else to establish his one-man regime. It was #ErdogansSelfCoup.

"A self-coup is a form of putsch or coup d'état in which a nation's leader, despite having come to power through legal means, dissolves or renders powerless the legislature and unlawfully assumes extraordinary powers not granted under normal circumstances." #ErdogansSelfCoup

#ErdogansSelfCoup
#ErdogansSelfCoup
#ErdogansSelfCoup
#ErdogansSelfCoup

July 15 attempt appeared to have been planned with remarkable incompetence, crushed quickly. Neither Erdogan nor any top gov't officials were arrested. It provided Erdogan with excellent excuse to subdue the last institution outside of his total domination: Turkish Armed Forces.

Erdogan used July 15 as a pretext to seize full control of the judiciary and the armed forces, consolidate power, shut down civic space and quash dissent. July 15 helped Erdogan end the parliamentary rule in Turkey and bring his long-desired presidential system. #ErdogansSelfCoup

With the help of the July 15 incident, Erdogan purged thousands of military officers, damaged the credibility of the Turkish Armed Forces, changed the hiring and firing system, modified the military educational institutions. #ErdogansSelfCoup was the final step of his power grab.

All questions regarding July 15 have been persistently ignored by the government, those who are asking those questions are relentlessly intimidated, harassed, jailed. The oddities and contradictions of the ‘coup’ have been systematically covered up by the state. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Erdogan, while speaking of when he first became aware of the coup, continuously made reference to different hours of the day. He gave so many conflicting explanations regarding such a crucial and specific matter, raised serious questions about the authenticity. #ErdogansSelfCoup

A Turkish Army Major, went to the Turkish National Intelligence headquarters on the day of the coup, July 15 at 2:20 pm, to give notice about the planned attempt. Yet, no real precautions were taken for the next 8 hours to prevent or suppress the attempt. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Why did Erdogan have four planes on standby for departure when he was allegedly unaware of the July 2016 'coup'? #ErdogansSelfCoup

The Chiefs of Defense and Intelligence met a day before the coup. One-on-one. For four hours. Evidence suggests that they were well aware of the attempt, yet, they still haven’t been removed from office. #ErdogansSelfCoup

What happened on July 15, 2016, does not match the pattern of a coup planned by the military, but rather one planned by an intelligence service where a small number of military units played roles unwittingly. #ErdogansSelfCoup

July 15 was a synthetic coup attempt planned for domestic and int'l media consumption. Synthetic in the sense that it was not an attempt planned by the military commanders, a mobilization of very small portion of the armed forces to give the appearance of coup. #ErdogansSelfCoup

July 15 lacked crucial steps that are jugular to the success of any military coup, such as securing political leaders and communications centers. What it had, on the other hand, did not serve any military purpose but was very compelling for media consumption. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Dramatic moments such as the closure one lane of the bridge by tanks, citizens getting on top of tanks, jets flying low over Ankara, bombing of a corner of the parliament and the deliberate targeting of civilians are examples. Heroes and villains were generated. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Different versions of the “citizens on a tank” photo was one of the emblematic themes of July 15 attempt. Observers quickly pointed out that the tanks on the Bosphorus bridge served no purpose in a military coup. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Damage to the parliament was a show case for promoting the govt's narrative to visiting int'l delegations. Bombing the parliament goes completely contrary to the military logic of presenting themselves as on the side of the public against corrupt politicians. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Crucial missing pieces of a military coup included preparing the public opinion, starting the action during the early hours of the day to minimize civilian casualties, securing key politicians first, then securing control of media and communications centers. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Why does July 15 not fit the pattern of a military coup? #ErdogansSelfCoup

The sub-events of July 15 that do not make any sense in the context of a military coup. However, they make perfect sense in the context of a synthetic coup designed for media consumption. Some of the strange or suspicious events of the #ErdogansSelfCoup are the following:

The gov't accused Gen. Akin Ozturk, former commander of the Air Force, of being the leader of the coup. But Office of Gen. Hulusi Akar, Chief of the General Staff, posted a press release describing him as a hero who tried to
stop the putschist, prevent bloodshed #ErdogansSelfCoup

Bombing the parliament is an illogical and counter-productive action in a military coup. During the past 'real' military coups, the military always portrayed itself as the savior of the people against corrupt and incompetent politicians. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Turkish gov't claims that the parliament was attacked by two-stage penetrating bombs dropped from F16s. Military experts however disputed the claim and pointed out that the impact of the explosions at the parliament match the pattern of an internally-placed bomb #ErdogansSelfCoup

How Could Pilots Miss Erdogan’s Palace? According to the govt narrative, the parliament was bombed out of an anger at Erdogan and his party. But Erdogan’s palace was left alone by the bomber jets. Only a corner of the front yard of the palace was partly damaged. #ErdogansSelfCoup

On July 15 a sniper allegedly killed civilians from atop one of bridge poles. The sniper himself was shot and killed by police snipers and the case was never fully investigated despite the use of civilian deaths on the bridge as an element of the media campaign. #ErdogansSelfCoup

Using civilian deaths as a crucial component of his campaign, Erdogan made no effort to illuminate the specifics of those deaths. It was the accused soldiers who asked for forensic examination of the firearms, bullets along with the autopsies of the killed civilians. All rejected

Alleged Gulen sympathizers are both villains and heroes of July 15. The govt’s treatment of certain individuals, whose affiliation with Gulen
movement discovered after the July 15, is revealing. That's why an AKP founder @senerabdullatif asked this question. #ErdogansSelfCoup