According to the daily, the coup plan was drafted in 2003, shortly after the AK Party came to power. The masterminds behind the plan were retired 1st Army Commander Gen. Çetin Doğan, retired Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and retired Gen. Ergin Saygun. According to the plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through violent acts, among which were planned bomb attacks on the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul. This subversive plot has caused disappointment, puzzlement and anger among many who have called on authorities to take the necessary action against the makers of this plan.Horrified by the plans outlined in Operation Sledgehammer, Sabah’s Emre Aköz says he does not have words to describe the mood and quest for power of the generals who prepared this plan. He finds two of the steps in this plot particularly hair-raising, one of which is the planned bombing of the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul during Friday prayers and the other the deliberate crashing of a Turkish military jet after a contrived skirmish with Greek military jets. “Now the question is whether the junta members, whose names are being uncovered one by one, will continue to serve in their posts or if Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, who earlier said coup supporters would have no place in the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK], will take the necessary action,” Aköz explains.
Talking about the existence of an asymmetric war in Turkey, Star’s Ergun Babahan says this war is one waged against the principles of a democratic republic by officers who have control of a large army, who prevent prosecutors from acting outside their orders and who set ambushes for people of the country and make plans to crash their own jet. He says that force commanders declaring war on their own country cannot be explained with patriotism. Calling on prosecutors to take action against the commanders making such plans, he says it is our right to ask the judiciary to investigate and determine the extent of the plot. “The innocent victims of coup plans deserve at least this,” says Babahan.
Drawing attention to the date the plot was drafted, shortly after the AK Party came to power, Bugün’s Erhan Başyurt says the coup generals did not even feel the need to observe how the government would use its power before deciding to take it out. “The AK Party has been in power for seven years. The result is obvious. Turkey is economically in a better situation. It is more powerful in the international arena and has a more advanced democracy. So what is it that made these people make plans to bomb mosques? Why do they feel so much hatred toward the public? Why are they afraid of religious people?” asks Başyurt.
