PROFILE - National hero of Turkey: Omer Halisdemir

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - Omer Halisdemir was a Turkish senior staff sergeant martyred on duty on the night of the 2016 coup attempt, orchestrated by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

He prevented the capture of the headquarters of the Special Forces Command in capital Ankara, an action considered by many as one of the major reasons for the failure of the attempt that martyred 251 and injured nearly 2,200 in less than 12 hours.

- The coup night

On the night of July 15, 2016, Maj. Gen. Zekai Aksakalli, then-commander of the Special Forces Command, heard about the coup preparations of FETO.

Coup plotters in three military vehicles were following his car when he was on his way to the presidential complex in Ankara.

He managed to escape the ambush.

After learning that Brig. Gen. Semih Terzi, commander of the 1st Special Forces Brigade in Sirnak, southeastern Turkey, was assigned by the coup plotters to take over the Special Forces Command, he lost no time to order his right-hand man Halisdemir by phone to kill Terzi in order to abort their plan.

Knowing that this risky operation could cost him his life, Halisdemir took position at the front yard of the headquarters building.

Terzi and heavily armed officers escorting him arrived at the headquarters at around 2.16 a.m local time (1116GMT) on July 16.

Halisdemir dashed from his hiding spot and shot dead the general.

He tried to escape gun shots fired by Terzi's aides.

Maj. Fatih Sahin fired, hitting him 12 times in the back.

Lt. Mihrali Atmaca noticed that Halisdemir was still alive. He fired the last shot that ended his life.

The plot to capture the Special Forces Command fell into complete disarray as the chain of command was broken by Terzi's death.

The whole event was captured on security cameras.

- His early life

Halisdemir was born on Feb. 20, 1974 in Bor, Nigde, one of the most peaceful towns of central Turkey.

One of the seven children of Hasan Huseyin Halisdemir and his wife Fadimeana, Halisdemir completed his early education in his hometown where he used to tend sheep in his free time.

He cleared the Police Academy exam but his dream was always to become a soldier and he fulfilled his dream in the most noble fashion.

He married Hatice Halisdemir, with whom he had a daughter, Elifnur, and a son, Dogan Ertugrul.

They were to celebrate the 19th anniversary of their marriage on July 26, 2016.

- Military career

Halisdemir joined the Turkish Armed Forces in 1999 as a non-commissioned officer of the infantry.

He was a successful serviceman awarded with various military awards and served in the toughest regions throughout his career; southeastern Turkey as well as northern Iraq and Afghanistan.

Finally, he was deployed to Turkish Army's elite Special Forces Command, as the staff sergeant of the Commander Maj. Gen. Zekai Aksakalli.

- After his martyrdom

Millions of Turks have been flooding to Halisdemir's grave to pay their respect and express their gratitude.

His wife Hatice said he had asked her to read Surah Al-Yaseen from the Quran for him just two days before his martyrdom.

It is a Muslim tradition to read Al Yaseen for the deceased.

Few other events or actions have inspired the Turkish security forces and Turkish people as much as Halisdemir's martyrdom.

His heroic resistance has ended the era of military coups in Turkey, according to most Turks.

Halisdemir turned tens of millions of civilians into soldiers who are ready to die for the country and defy any aggressor.

His martyrdom made his father proud.

"I raised him for the homeland and gave him to the homeland. I am very proud," his father told reporters.

In their last phone conversation on Friday, hours before the coup attempt, Halisdemir told his father that he secured a bank loan for the dream house he had in mind for a long time and was coming home on Sunday for a few days.

But a different and divine destination was waiting for Halisdemir.

He built himself a dream house the next day in heaven, the real hometown of martyrs.