Öksüz only a ‘shadow figure,’ deputy PM says, urging all parties to fight against Gülenists

ANKARA

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş has said the fugitive Adil Öksüz, one of the prime suspects behind Turkey’s failed July 15 coup attempt, is only a “shadow” figure and the top orchestrators of the attempted putsch have not yet surfaced.  

Speaking during a budget meeting at parliament on Dec. 6, Kurtulmuş said he believes Öksüz is a “shadow” and investigators are still trying to identify the “number 1 and number 2” behind the coup attempt, as they still do not know who was planned to be put into a leadership positon if it had been successful. 

“All this information will be revealed in court,” said Kurtulmuş, also urging all political parties to join the fight against the movement of shady U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, widely believed to be behind the coup attempt. 

“It is not as if these coup soldiers don’t like the [Justice and Development Party] AK Parti and like the [main opposition Republican People’s Party] CHP. Therefore all of us, including other parties, should fight the same way. We should all make efforts to improve democracy in Turkey,” he added. 

Öksüz, who the Turkish government has identified as the Gülen movement’s “imam of the Air Force” and a leader of the plot in Turkey, was briefly detained after being found adjacent to the Akıncı Air Base in Ankara immediately after the coup on the morning  of July 16. He was sent to a court with a demand for his arrest but was freed on probation, after which he went on the run.