Appeal for justice falls on deaf ears as military protects plot figures

“If Turkey is determined to continue its existence as a country governed by the rule of law, then the army members in question should testify to civilian prosecutors. The law is very clear. There is no other alternative,” Reşat Petek, a former public prosecutor, said.

Civilian prosecutors conducting a probe into a clandestine group known as Ergenekon last week invited five members of the army accused of having contributed to the preparation of the plot to testify, but none have done so thus far. Prosecutors also warned that police would use force to bring these members of the military to testify if they do not come voluntarily. Jurists have criticized the General Staff for not sending them to civilian interrogators, accusing Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ of openly defying the rule of law.

“In accordance with the Code on Criminal Procedure [CMK], members of the army involved will either be forced to testify to civilian prosecutors by police or a civilian court will issue an arrest warrant for them to bring them in to testify,” Petek added.

The debates were sparked by the discovery of the original copy of a military plot aimed at undermining the ruling AK Party and the Gülen movement. A military officer mailed the original copy of the plot, called the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, to an İstanbul prosecutor.

The document revealed that the plot was produced by a group within the army. The original copy was examined by the İstanbul Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), which verified its authenticity. The verification refuted all claims that the plot was fabricated.

According to the document, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had a systematic plan to destroy the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the inquest into Ergenekon, a criminal organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government. Dozens of its suspected members are currently in jail on charges of attempting to destroy the democratic character of the republic.

“Those army members have to comply with the call of civilian prosecutors asking them to testify as part of a probe. If they are not allowed or urged to do so, this will imply that they are guilty,” noted Ahmet Cengiz Tangören, a retired naval judge.

The officer who sent in the plot, whose name was not made public, stated in a letter he attached to the plot that the order for the preparation of such an action plan came from 1st Army Corps Commander Gen. Hasan Iğsız.

Iğsız was serving as the deputy chief of general staff at the time. “In accordance with a directive by [then-Deputy Chief of General Staff] Gen. Hasan Iğsız, necessary work was initiated by Lt. Gen. Mehmet Eröz and Maj. Gen. Mustafa Bakıcı, and the action plan was prepared by Col. Dursun Çiçek,” the letter reads.

The colonel was also invited to testify by civilian prosecutors, but has not shown up to do so as of yet. Çiçek was arrested by a civilian court in July on suspicion of being linked to the plot but was later released after his lawyer submitted an appeal. His immediate release was considered controversial. He had testified to Ergenekon prosecutors at that time.

According to Mustafa Şentop, a professor of constitutional law at Marmara University, members of the military will not dare spark a testimony crisis and will sooner or later abide by the civilian prosecutor’s call to testify.

“Civilian prosecutors might have granted a certain period of time to the army members before they show up at their office to testify. We do not know whether this period has expired or not. I believe army members will agree to testify to civilian prosecutors. If they do not, they will be brought to testify by force by police,” Şentop noted.

Jurists have criticized the General Staff for not sending five members of the military to civilian interrogators regarding the military plot, accusing Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ of openly defying the rule of law.

The prosecutors were granted until Oct. 30. If they do not show up at the civilian prosecutor’s office to testify, the prosecutors are expected to issue a warrant for their arrest.

The TSK announced on Monday that a new investigation was launched into the plot by the General Staff Military Prosecutor’s Office in order to clear up questions surrounding the plot. A previous investigation concluded in June that the plot was not produced at the General Staff headquarters.

Yesterday, the General Staff Military Prosecutor’s Office started to interrogate staff at Col. Çiçek’s Third Information Support Unit to find out who mailed the original copy of the plot to a civilian prosecutor. The office said the interrogation was part of an ongoing probe into the plot controversy.

An investigation was launched into the plot by the office on Monday in order to clear up questions surrounding the plot.

‘General Staff oversteps authority with plot investigation’

The launch of a military investigation, however, spurred a debate among jurists, most of whom said the General Staff had overstepped its authority as it ignored a new law paving the way for military personnel to be tried in civilian courts.

According to jurists, the investigation should be carried out by a civilian court because the plot details military plans to interfere in the political realm. “The General Staff has no authority to launch such a probe. It defied the new law on military tribunals,” noted Ümit Kardaş, a retired military judge.

Kardaş was referring to a law passed in early July that included a change to Article 5918 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The law allows civilian courts to try members of the armed forces who are accused of crimes including threats to national security, constitutional violations, organizing armed groups and attempts to topple the government. Military courts are authorized to try members of the armed forces during wartime and periods of martial law. The law had come as a revolution in civilian-military relations, analysts argued, as such a move limits the power of the military over civilians.

A military investigation concluded in June that the plot was not produced at the General Staff headquarters.

According to a former public prosecutor, Gültekin Avcı, the Military Prosecutor’s Office has no authority to investigate a plan that is a coup attempt against democracy.

“Gen. Hasan Iğsız and İlker Başbuğ should be included in the investigation. After the plot controversy was sparked, Başbuğ did not remove Col. Çiçek from office. The colonel was denied a promotion at the Supreme Military Council [YAŞ] meeting [in August], but the armed forces pointed to a lack of vacancy for the position of admiral in the naval forces as the reason for their denial. For the protective stance they adopted, Gen. Başbuğ and Iğsız should be interrogated on charges of ‘negligence of duty.’ There cannot be a bigger scandal within the military. The only thing that could be a bigger scandal is a coup itself,” Avcı remarked.

Jurists’ Union President Sinan Kılıçkaya recalled that a past military investigation into the army plot did not prove successful as it failed to produce sound conclusions.

“The Military Prosecutor’s Office did not detain Col. Çiçek. His house was searched five days after the plot [was published in a Turkish daily]. … The military investigation was far from being persuasive. The officer’s letter revealed everything. The investigation should be carried out by a civilian prosecutor. All those suspected of having contributed to the preparation of the plot should be called to account,” Kılıçkaya remarked.

Military Prosecutor’s Office has a bad record

The General Staff Military Prosecutor’s Office is better known not only for a number of investigations it left unconcluded but also for its inaction on a number of scandals.

The office did not investigate claims of coup attempts by the armed forces that now-retired Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek mentioned in a journal he kept. In April 2008, the now-defunct Nokta newsweekly published excerpts from Örnek’s journal, leading to huge public outcry. The newsweekly was shut down several weeks after a police raid of its office.

A letter of correspondence between the lawyer for the editor-in-chief of the newsweekly, Ümit Kardaş, and the General Staff revealed that the Military Prosecutor’s Office did not launch an investigation into the admiral’s journal. “As no consistent document or information was available into the claims, nothing has been done,” the General Staff announced.

Then came claims that three soldiers had been subjected to torture during an interrogation and that the interrogator, Lt. Col. Gürol Doğan, used hypnosis and psychological pressure to extract statements from them.

The Military Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the claims around seven months ago, but has failed to complete an indictment against Doğan thus far. The office also did not launch a probe into the controversial Dağlıca ambush, which claimed the lives of 12 soldiers on Oct. 7, 2007.