A group of plotters of the failed Turkish coup attempt used a WhatsApp group to communicate with each other. Bellingcat has transcribed, translated, and analysed the conversation, thereby cross-referencing the messages with photos, videos, and news reports of the evening, night, and morning of July 15-16.
The transcript is composed of two different sources. The first source is a video which was uploaded to Twitter in the morning of July 16, and appears to show the conversation on the phone of a surrendered, captured, or killed coup plotter. This video revealed the WhatsApp conversation from its start at 21:15 to 22:45. The second source is 21 photos that show the rest of the conversation, has already been transcribed. The photos are courtesy of
Al Jazeera Türk's
Selahattin Günday, and we are thankful that he was willing to share them with Bellingcat. We owe many thanks to "
Has Avrat"[1] for fully translating the transcript, as well as contributing to the analysis. All times mentioned are in the local time zone, which is EEST (UTC+3).
This article will chronologically highlight and analyse most the most striking parts of the transcript, including the following:
- The WhatsApp group consists of high-ranking military officials, mostly of the Turkish Land Forces, including two Brigadiers and eleven Colonels;
- The group is just one coordination group of the coup attempt, as it focuses on (predominantly) land forces in Istanbul and Sakarya only. There were likely other coordination groups for actions elsewhere in Turkey. It is thus important to bear in mind that this is a snapshot of the conversation of some of the coup plotters, and not a full picture;
- At least one member of the group communicates with "Ankara", where the coupist headquarters was located (probably in Akıncı Air Base);
- At least three out of the five coupist regiments are part of Turkey's NATO Rapid Deployable Corps;
- The conversation and communication between the coup plotters appears to be chaotic, as several numbers still had to be exchanged amidst the attempt;
- Traffic congestion is a problem throughout the night, and so are private broadcasters;
- There is a constant repetition regarding taking their superior hostage, the Commander of the First Army;
- Air support is requested many times, including the suggestion to strike the Bosporus Bridge;
- As the morning breaks, the coup plotters realise it is over. "Shall we escape", a Colonel asks. "The choice is yours", he gets as response. "We have not decided yet. But we have left our position. I'm closing the group. Delete the messages if you want".
A full transcript in both the original Turkish and translated English of the WhatsApp conversation can be viewed and downloaded
here as a PDF-file.
Comment: Not only were the regiments NATO for 13 years; they even used their NATO-assigned slogan "Peace at home, peace in the world" as the name of their WhatsApp group.
Sibel Edmonds comments:
According to the
German magazine FOCUS, British GCHQ "intercepted phone calls, e-mails and SMS from within the Turkish government apparatus saying that the purges would start next day and that Gulen should be presented as the mastermind of the coup"
a half-hour after the shooting started. So as Christoph Germann
tweets, a NATO source leaks info to a German magazine suggesting a NATO ally staged a coup. Right. And if they really had the capability to receive these messages, surely they intercepted the messages from the actual coup plotters. But did they warn their 'ally'? Nope.
Comment: Not only were the regiments NATO for 13 years; they even used their NATO-assigned slogan "Peace at home, peace in the world" as the name of their WhatsApp group. Sibel Edmonds comments:
According to the German magazine FOCUS, British GCHQ "intercepted phone calls, e-mails and SMS from within the Turkish government apparatus saying that the purges would start next day and that Gulen should be presented as the mastermind of the coup" a half-hour after the shooting started. So as Christoph Germann tweets, a NATO source leaks info to a German magazine suggesting a NATO ally staged a coup. Right. And if they really had the capability to receive these messages, surely they intercepted the messages from the actual coup plotters. But did they warn their 'ally'? Nope.