Levent Kenez/Stockholm
A newly released documentary, marking the eighth anniversary of a controversial coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, reveals shocking allegations against high-ranking officials. A rear admiral who was dismissed from the navy following the failed coup claims that the then-intelligence chief, who is now Turkey’s foreign minister, personally tortured a suspect.
The 2016 failed coup is believed by many to have been a false flag operation plotted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and then-military chief Hulusi Akar. Erdogan allegedly used the coup attempt as a pretext to consolidate his power, purge pro-NATO officers from the military and launch a cross-border military incursion into Syria. He blamed Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US, for the attempt and initiated a witch-hunt against his followers based on dubious criminal accusations. Gülen strongly denied any role in the abortive putsch, and the Turkish government has so far failed to present any evidence linking Gülen to it.
Mustafa Zeki Uğurlu, stationed at NATO Allied Command Transformation (NATO ACT) headquarters in the United States on the night of July 15, 2016, made important claims in a documentary published on the Alesta YouTube channel, established by officers dismissed from the military and now living abroad.
“Bring Hulusi Akar and Hakan Fidan, and let them face one of my former classmates in the military; within half an hour, they would dismantle all their claims about the coup attempt. Akar and Fidan would not be able to answer any questions because they have no valid response,” Uğurlu said.
At the end of the documentary Uğurlu posed a question to Fidan. “While those generals and admirals were being tortured, did you participate in any of the torture? Did you bite any of their ears?” he asked, adding, “Aren’t you afraid of the future, of the truth coming out?” and implying to Fidan that he knew about the torture without revealing the identity of the tortured general.
The torture of officers accused of involvement in the coup attempt first came to light in a video recorded at the Ankara Police Department and released by the state-run Anadolu news agency just after July 15, 2016.
Starting later that year, he torture and abduction of government critics and opponents were sanctioned by Fidan after receiving approval from President Erdogan. Following that approval, multiple victims were taken to black sites maintained by Turkish intelligence agency MİT, where they were subjected to torture and abuse.
Despite the mounting evidence, including numerous criminal complaints, victim statements and confessions from senior MİT officials, the Erdogan government has failed to initiate any effective investigations into the allegations of torture. In certain cases prosecutors seemed to be pursuing investigations into these claims, only to later abandon them, often citing as a pretext the lack of evidence. To date, no on-site inspections have been conducted at the black sites in Ankara.
One of these black sites had been previously exposed to the public in 2018. It is widely acknowledged that this black site is used not only for officers but also for individuals illegally abducted from abroad by MİT. Located in a protected conservation area in Turkey’s capital of Ankara, it is situated in a clandestine facility operated by MIT. Approximately two kilometers from President Erdogan’s palace, the site functions as a covert hub for arms transfers to jihadist groups and a black site for torture.
The facility’s coordinates are 39.92632610216299, 32.77207015662205, about 230 meters from Anadolu Boulevard and 600 meters from Ankara Boulevard. As of 2023 Google Maps imagery showed that the site remains active, with three cars parked near the gate and a control point with a lift arm barrier about 30 meters before the main gate. The site’s isolation ensures complete seclusion from public scrutiny.
In early 2016 the facility underwent renovations under Fidan to accommodate torture cells for victims kidnapped by MIT. This secret facility was first revealed during a 2014 criminal investigation into the al-Qaeda network in Turkey, showing it was used for dispatching arms to jihadist factions in Syria and Iraq. The Erdogan government hushed up the investigation, protecting MIT agents involved in illegal arms trafficking.
The use of the black site continues under Ibrahim Kalın, who succeeded Fidan as MİT director in June 2023. Witness testimony, confessions of senior MİT officials and court documents confirm the existence of the black site in the Atatürk Forestry Farm (Atatürk Orman Çiftliği, AOÇ), operated by MİT’s special operations department, headed by Kemal Eskintan. The department employs a specialized interrogation team known for using invasive torture tactics.
Details of the site were also disclosed by senior MİT officials Erhan Pekçetin and Aydın Günel, who were captured by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, in 2017. Pekçetin revealed witnessing Ayhan Oran, a former MİT employee, being tortured in one of the cells in 2016. Oran, abducted in November 2016, remains missing. Before his disappearance, Oran left a letter with his wife indicating MİT would be responsible if he were to disappear. The investigation was obstructed by MİT.
In court testimony in 2019, former intelligence officer Vehbi Kürşad Akalın revealed he was shown videos of Oran and Mesut Geçer, another former MIT employee, enduring torture during his detention in 2017. Akalın was coerced into signing a confession under threat of severe torture. Oran’s wife filed multiple reports and criminal complaints, but Turkish authorities disregarded her appeals, failing to conduct an effective investigation. In 2022 Turkey’s Constitutional Court acknowledged the lack of an effective investigation.
Retired intelligence officer Mehmet Eymür confirmed the existence of the black site in a 2021 interview with the T24 news website, admitting to MİT’s use of torture and claiming current methods are far more severe, leading to deaths and disappearances, including in Oran’s case.
In July 2017 an anonymous user on Twitter, now X, with the handle Meçhul Kayıkçı (@kayikci06), who claimed to be a MIT employee, revealed details about the black site and torture practices. The whistleblower expressed remorse for his involvement in kidnappings, torture and the transfer of arms to jihadists. He revealed that the black site’s interrogation rooms were designed long before the failed coup on July 15, 2016 under orders from Fidan. Changes to MİT regulations facilitated kidnappings and torture, and operatives were granted immunity from criminal investigation by the Erdogan government.
In 2024 investigative journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan, in a file uploaded to his own YouTube channel, revealed that Erdogan frequently visited the torture site in Ankara. He even mentioned an occasion when Erdogan and his team, including Fidan, dined on venison prepared by palace chefs while individuals were held in cells below.
