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Claims by ‘unnamed army officers’ back on agenda
Two prominent Turkish dailies, Radikal and Milliyet, have recently published stories that included claims by high-ranking military officers whose names were kept secret against the authenticity of a suspected plot to bring down the AK Party and the Gülen movement through framing individuals by planting weapons in their homes and manufacturing false news stories.
In the articles, the unnamed military officers also spoke against military judicial reform measures that would allow civilians involved with military affairs to be tried in civilian courts rather than in military tribunals. Similar stories occupied the front pages of several newspapers just prior to and after the Feb. 28 unarmed military intervention.
Before the military overthrew the coalition government led by Necmettin Erbakan of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) on Feb. 28, 1997, some newspapers published lead stories in which unnamed members of the military expressed their displeasure with the existing political atmosphere in the country.
The trend of running stories featuring claims by anonymous officers was revived once again in 2003 by the Cumhuriyet daily, which asserted that young military officers were unhappy with the AK Party and its policies because they reportedly believed the AK Party sought to undermine Turkey's secularism.
It was later revealed that the story was manufactured to discredit then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök and urge him to resign.
Claims by unnamed officers on the political atmosphere in the country came to a halt when Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ started a series of media briefings in which he offered explanations on a wide range of topics occupying the country's agenda. However, these anonymous military members started to appear in newspapers again after Parliament approved legislation in late June requiring civilian courts to try members of the armed forces accused of crimes including threatening national security, constitutional violations, organizing armed groups and attempting to topple the government.
The Milliyet and Radikal dailies recently claimed that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had termed the legislation unconstitutional.
"Politics will enter the barracks," said a front-page headline in Milliyet on Sunday, which detailed the General Staff's objections to the law.
According to the military, the reform infringes the inviolability of military areas and will lead to clashes between the military and civilian judiciary. The military also voiced concern at the way the legislation was passed by Parliament in a late-night session at the end of June after Defense Ministry officials had left the assembly.
The article, also published in Radikal, did not specify a source. There was no statement from the military on its Web site.
The dailies also claimed on Monday that members of the military believed the suspected TSK plot against the AK Party and the Gülen movement was prepared by civilians. They did not offer a source for the claims, saying instead that the claims were voiced by military sources.
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