Recep Kara suffered from amnesia briefly, but today, his memories of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt are as fresh as ever. Kara is among hundreds injured and rendered "ghazi" (veteran) by putschist soldiers linked to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Ahead of the anniversary of the fateful day, Kara and others recounted the horror and the public resolve to quell the coup attempt.
Kara was among unarmed civilians convened outside the Office of Chief of General Staff, headquarters of the Turkish army in the capital Ankara, desperately trying to persuade putschists to lay down arms. A Health Ministry employee, 39-year-old Kara, sensed something was wrong when he heard a constant flurry of planes flying low. These were warplanes flown by putschist plots to intimidate their opponents and carry out airstrikes in several locations, including Parliament and the Presidential Complex. When he turned on the TV and saw then-Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım speaking about a coup, Kara decided to join others to take to the streets. He was certain that something terrible might happen while going against well-armed putschists. And like others, he performed ablution, like the Muslim faithful going to war does. On the street, he encountered a tank commandeered by putschists and decided to confront it. He stood before it and shouted, "God is great!." The tank sped toward Kara, and momentarily, he grabbed its front part. The tank dragged him for about 2 kilometers (around 1.5 miles) before he lost his grip.
He was uninjured and with his newfound courage, Kara stood against another tank and grabbed its cannon. Again, he failed.
"There were people on the streets waving Turkish flags. I stood before the tanks but could not stop them," Kara told the Sabah newspaper earlier this week. "I never gave up," Kara added. Indeed, his next destination was the army headquarters. He climbed up a tank the putschists brought. This time, he was determined. Putschists near the tank ordered him to climb down, but he refused. Soldiers then started firing upon him and others. "I saw four people shot. We carried the injured. They fired again. I covered my face instinctively and only then I saw blood pouring from my arm," he said. Kara was later hospitalized and realized he suffered from amnesia from blows he sustained as the tank’s cannon repeatedly hit his head as he tried to grab it. "I found out that the coup failed while I was in my hospital bed. People asked me why I went out that night. I went out so that our nation would prevail; our flag would not fall," he says. "This is what matters most."
Uzeyir Civan was on a toll road in Istanbul as tanks controlled by putschists were heading toward the city on July 15, 2016. "Ghazi" Civan was among a crowd trying to block the military convoy on the city’s Asian side. Putschists indiscriminately fired upon the crowd. Bullets tore apart his left arm. "I lost my arm, but I am glad that we still have this beautiful country," Civan told İhlas News Agency (IHA) on Wednesday. "I am always ready to sacrifice my life for my homeland," he says.
As he shuffles through photos of that night, including photos of him lying in a pool of blood and watching videos of the incidents, Civan burst into tears. "I was operated on at the hospital after I was injured and when I woke up, I saw my nephew by the bedside and asked him if the coup was over. He told me, ‘Yes, uncle, it is over.' I took a deep breath and thanked God," he says.
When he heard about a coup unfolding, Civan spoke with family members and friends about what to do. "We decided to join the resistance. We were near Sabiha Gökçen Airport, a strategic location that we could not lose to putschists. When we arrived at tollbooths on the road, we saw police officers closing the road against putschists. We joined them. Together, we stopped the military convoy and tried to talk them out of this attempt. I rallied people to shout, 'Soldiers and police are brothers.' I thought some of the soldiers were unaware that they were part of a coup. I wanted them to realize what they are involved in," he says.
Soldiers fired for a while into the air and when gunfire stopped, Civan walked to a spot between soldiers and police officers. "I saw them reloading their guns. They were preparing to fire again. I ran and called them to stop it; I told them we were all brothers. Then, I heard a bang and felt pain in my arm. I first saw blood stains on my arm and thought it was a slight injury. When I looked at my upper arm, I saw it was almost without flesh," Civan says about his last moments before he lost consciousness.