Erkan Er, who was shot by putschists he was resisting in front of the Gendarmerie Headquarters, across from the Presidential Complex, was martyred as a police officer was taking him to the hospital.
The 44 year old Er was one of the people who was standing against the July 15th traitors. He saw the putschists shooting at the MIT headquarters. After seeing this, he rushed to the Presidential Complex and tried to stop the tanks. His last words were, “God is the greatest! You didn’t earn this country. We won’t let you have it!” Sibel Er, the wife of the martyr, said, “My husband called his friends and said, ‘This is a jihad, those who love their country go protect it. Traitors are everywhere. Where are you?’ On the night of the coup attempt, he was shot in his ear in the first attack by a helicopter. He took a photo of his ear to see it. I called my husband without knowing that it would be the last time I heard my husband’s voice. He said, ‘They are shooting from the helicopter. People are dying.’ And then I wasn’t able to hear him anymore. When his phone was open I heard him say, ‘God is the greatest. You didn’t earn this country, we won’t let you have it’”.
He told his family “I’m shot but I’m okay”
Er, who was shot in his ear, first took a photo of it and sent it to his family saying, “I’m shot but I’m okay.” As the fight went on, nobody was able to hear from the martyr after 01:40 AM. Er died after being shot again as he was taken to the hospital. His family received the news at 07:30 in the morning. After his body was received, he was buried in the Karağaç Village of the Orta district in Çankırı.
The name of martyr Erkan Er was given to an old school of FETÖ that was later converted into an Imam Hatip high school.
