Since then Turkey’s politically powerful armed forces have gradually cemented their privilege and status of unaccountability in the country through constitutions that were rewritten following the military coups of 1960 and 1980. The constitutions dictated by the military have curbed basic rights and freedoms while strengthening the military’s trusteeship.
Col. Aydemir’s execution, therefore, was the first and the last event where the military was held accountable for its unconstitutional acts of military coups, which had continued until 2007, when the military released an e-memorandum in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the election of Abdullah Gül as the president of Turkey.
Last Sunday, the Feb. 28, 1997 postmodern coup was commemorated in several Turkish cities. Thirteen years after that coup, ironically, over 33 officers including some former service commanders as well as active and retired generals have been arrested on charges of triggering an armed incitement and chaos to unseat the government in the alleged Sledgehammer coup plot, said to be designed in 2003, several months after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power.
As Turks have benefited for some time now from relatively open discussion of taboo issues such as the military’s role in politics, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) has begun feeling the heat. Open discussions have become possible after several laws were either adopted or amended to reduce the military’s overwhelming role in politics.
With the arrest of several retired generals in an investigation launched more than two years ago, a new period has been opened in Turkish history under which once-untouchable uniformed men have begun to be touched. Under the ongoing investigation, about 200 people of various professions, including retired generals as well as retired and active-duty officers of different ranks have been charged with crimes such as triggering an armed incitement to unseat the government.
Since then several failed coup plots have been disclosed by the Taraf daily. The latest one is been the bloodiest-ever coup plot, named Sledgehammer, which I mentioned above.
These are increasing signs that a conscious behavior has been emerging toward respect for the rule of law. The prosecutors and judges, therefore, should pay the utmost attention during those operations to the principles of fair trial and the rule of law in an attempt to not create an image that the arrests are taking place as part of a vendetta.
One way of proving to the public that the military is on trial because of serious suspicions and evidence of some of its members’ involvement in unconstitutional acts will be government’s sincere efforts to start fresh military and civilian reforms in line with the European Union’s democratic criteria.
In this sense, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s announcement on Sunday that a mini-constitutional reform package including judicial reforms will be submitted to Parliament later this month has been a positive move.
The more the government sticks to the democratic reforms the more support it will gain for any step that it will take in ending the military’s role in politics. This policy will also encourage the prosecutors to firmly go after those attempting to violate laws and the Constitution.
We can also observe some positive changes taking place within the military, especially among those who are assumed to have seen the reality that they have been used by some officers and provoked into designing coup plans.
The second meeting in less than a week between Erdoğan and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, which took place on Sunday, can be described as a positive signal that the TSK seeks cooperation rather than coercion with the political authority.
