On November 17, former Pentagon official and analyst Michael Rubin published an article entitled ‘Turkey’s looming prison massacre grows nearer’ on the website of the American Enterprise Institute

 

In his article, Rubin claims that his previous accusation that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “might massacre political prisoners under the guise of crushing a fictitious prison riot” has been verified by a Tweet posted by an overzealous deputy. The tweet was sent by a deputy warning of gossip among the general public that members of the outlawed terrorist organizations Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Fethullah Gulen Terror Organization (FETO) detained in prison could be attacked if those organizations attempted to assassinate democratically elected politicians.1

 

Rubin further claims that Turkish President Erdogan has “installed anti-aircraft weaponry in Sincan and Silivri prisons where majority of the coup prisoners are kept,” continuing by stating that there are tanks with their turrets aimed towards the buildings in which prisoners are held. However, Rubin provides no evidence to substantiate his claims other than a vague reference they are based on conversations with “Turks in the security forces, press as well as some whose family members have been arrested in the widespread purge.”

 

Rubin continues by arguing that the 15 July attempted military coup against the Turkish government was “Turkey’s equivalent of the Reichstag fire." In other words, Rubin is suggesting that the coup attempt was a false flag attack organized by the Turkish government to sway public opinion towards giving it more power - drawing a comparison with Nazi Germany. However, ongoing judicial investigations, compounded by the statements of those involved in the coup attempt, have demonstrated that it was organized by FETO.2

 

The judicial investigations into both the coup attempt and the wider FETO organization are still in their infancy due to the sheer scale and size of the network alleged to have been involved. The government has invited all concerned parties and individuals – including ardent critics - to testify at the coup commission established by the parliament. Hitherto there has been no suggestion from any quarter that the coup was organized by Turkish President Erdogan himself.