Halil Algan, a father of two who works in the textile business in Istanbul, took to the streets after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called during FETO’s coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Algan, who climbed onto a tank that had plowed into the crowds as They were walking and were seriously injured when the soldiers opened a fire inside.
Algan, who was taken to the hospital in a nearby light commercial vehicle, remained in intensive care for 45 days. Algan, who was paralyzed from the waist down after the bullet that entered his armpit damaged his spinal cord, returned to his hometown and started living in his house in the Nur Neighborhood of the Artuklu district.
‘I Never Had a Feeling of Regret’
Algan, who continues his physical therapy and recounts what he experienced on the night of July 15, stated that he has no regrets that night, saying, “I went home from work that day. While watching TV at home, I noticed that all channels were saying the same thing and that something was wrong. When I learned that there was a coup, I immediately went out to the street. From there, we immediately went down to the main road. Thousands of people got down next to the Atışalanı Bridge. Some of us started driving, some of us started walking. We walked a few hundred meters, a tank came from behind. When the tank came, it plowed into 10 people with me, and some of us became martyrs and some became veterans. Two of us climbed on top of the tank to stop it. They gave the G-3 to the sergeant on the hatch of the tank, and I immediately took the gun from his hand and gave it to the one next to me and said, ‘Do n’t shoot anyone.’
Algan stated that he stayed in intensive care for 45 days and in a regular room for 1 month in the hospital he was taken to after being shot, and said: “If there was another coup and I was standing and I knew I would be in a worse condition, I would still come out. Of course, I am going through great difficulties. The biggest difficulty is indifference. May the martyrs rest in peace. I also wish recovery to veterans like me. May God never let us experience days like this again. “God willing, we will have good days, but as I said, if there was another coup, even in this state, I would go and shield the bullets with my body.”
