Turkish air force squadrons
led the ultimately failed coup. Apparently following many months of the planning, the rebels — reportedly inspired by exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen — seized control of at least four F-16s, four KC-135 tankers, several UH-60 transport helicopters, an AH-1 helicopter gunship, two AS532 rescue copters, six C-160 and C-130 transport planes and two brand-new A400 transports.
At 10:00 on the night of July 15, two pairs of F-16s took off from the 4th Main Jet Base at Akinci, north of Ankara. With a rebel air traffic controller providing a cover story, the F-16s flew low over Ankara and, joined by rebel helicopters, strafed government, police and intelligence facilities, reportedly killing scores of loyalist personnel.
A Turkish F-16. Photo via Wikipedia
Erdogan had been vacationing on the Mediterranean coast. Apparently tipped off about the impending coup, the president climbed in his Gulfstream VIP jet for the roughly hour-long flight to Istanbul. Arriving over the city, the crew found the airport under rebel control. As Erdogan’s Gulfstream circled the airport, rebel F-16s vectored toward the presidential plane, perhaps intending to shoot it down.
Alternatively, it’s possible the putsch leaders wanted to capture, not kill Erdogan — so that they could try the president in some future revolutionary court. “Coup plotters had [issued an] order that night to force the airplane land at Akinci in Ankara … to catch Erdogan alive,” Babak Taghvaee, an expert on Middle East military aviation, told War Is Boring.
Turkish Coup Plotters Lost the Battle of Perception
Military coup attempt failed to control informationwarisboring.com
In any event, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, still loyal to Erdogan, reportedly begged the air force to defend the president. But most of the Main Jet Bases declined to help. The 3rd Main Jet Base in Konya, in south-central Turkey, agreed to launch F-16s to “escort” the president — but refused to allow the fighters to shoot down rebel jets.
Apparently only the 1st Main Jet Base was willing to fight for Erdogan. But according to Taghvaee, the base’s upgraded, Vietnam War-vintage F-4s — numbering around 50 — lacked effective air-to-air missiles and could not shoot down rebel planes, even if their pilots wanted to do so.
The crew of Erdogan’s Gulfstream saved themselves and their president by switching the plane’s radio transponder signal to match a Turkish Airlines flight, and by turning off the plane’s external lights.
