In 2015, Erbaş was appointed commander of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Division. He was in this role during the 15 July 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt and gave orders to his subordinates to resist the attempt. He afterwards attended ceremonies for those men of the security services who were killed in the coup attempt, stating that their killers "are not soldiers", but "murderers". Erbaş was a witness in the March 2017 trial of 35 former soldiers of the 106th Artillery Regiment who were accused of participating in the coup.