Artillery Master Sergeant Bülent Aydın, who was the guard for the Turkish Land Forces commander, had a shootout with the armed putschist soldiers at the General Staff Command around 9:30 p.m. on July 15 and became the first July 15 martyr.
Army Commander Gen. Salih Zeki Çolak, who was lured by FETÖ member traitors on the pretext of a meeting, was assaulted by putschist soldiers when he entered the headquarters. Aydın, who was Çolak’s close guard, was shot in the leg first and then on the left side around his abdomen as he was trying to react to the assault. Aydın lost his life in this traitorous trap and became the first martyr of the July 15 coup attempt.
First plot, first shooting, first martyr
Aide Levent Türkkan, who was involved in the coup attempt, invited Çolak to the General Staff Command for a meeting at 9:00 p.m. on July 15. Çolak’s guard, Aydın, was with him as they went to the headquarters. Aydın talked to his wife Şahnaz on the phone for approximately 25 minutes and told her he was held up by something. Çolak and his team were not let into the headquarters with the excuse that there was a drill. When they entered from another door, they noticed that one of the soldiers in the safe spot was handcuffed. Then they recognized the danger after seeing armed soldiers in the forbidden area and started shooting. Aydın was first shot in the leg the shootout. Aydın kept shooting after he was injured and then was heavily injured when a bullet struck his abdomen.
A bag to remind his son of his father
Aydın, who was martyred in this event described with the headline “Shootout in General Staff Command”, kept working, saying: “I’m still young,” despite having the right to retire five years ago.
Aydın almost felt he was going to be a martyr that day and said to his friends: “If something happens to me, give my bag to my son.” His bag contained special belongings with sentimental values.
‘A martyr’s wedding’
Aydın’s wife Şahnaz brought tears to everyone’s eye’s when she said “The 40th day of his martyrdom was our 20th wedding anniversary. I spent that day having a martyr’s wedding. My children and I are proud of my husband and his honorable story. He gave me the greatest gift by making me a wife of a martyr.”
Çolak protected Akar, Kıvrıkoğlu, and Demirel
Aydın, who was a father of two, had worked in several critical spots during his 24 years in the Special Forces. Aydın was a Maroon Beret with “fish man” and “frog man” commendations. He had been a guard for important people like the late President Süleyman Demirel and former commander of the Turkish Armed Forces Gen. Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu and Gen. Hilmi Özkök. Aydın was Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar closest guard when he was the commander of the Turkish Land Forces.
