Three orders to prevent the coup attempt

Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar spent most of his office hours on July 15, 2016 in preparations for the upcoming Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting, due to convene at the beginning of August. Together with Commander of the Land Forces Gen. Salih Zeki Çolak, Akar went through the lists, reviewing names one by one.  

At around 4:20 or 4:25 p.m., Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler entered and whispered into Akar's ear about the phone call he had just received from National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan. 

This Akar-Güler dialogue lasted five or six minutes, according to the statement given to the prosecutor by Gen. Çolak. When Güler left, the two top generals continued to work on the YAŞ list for another 20 minutes. 

Soon afterward, a top MİT executive met with Güler and told him that an army aviation pilot had come to the MİT and was called back from vacation. He was told that they would have a night flight tonight and they would "take" Fidan.

Güler immediately went to Akar's office to convey this information. Two of them stepped into a side meeting room. Çolak was asked to continue working on the list on his own or take a break. Once inside the meeting room, Akar agreed to call Fidan. Fidan was invited at 4.40 p.m., according to the MİT.

Akar then asked Çolak to join too. In his statement Çolak reportedly said the following: "I joined the meeting. I took notes from the information conveyed to me. I was told that a major had tipped off the MİT that from 7 p.m. tonight three helicopters would make unauthorized flights, that these flights would continue until late, and that MİT chief Hakan Fidan would be kidnapped. The second pilot assigned in the same task was from the Gülen...