Prosecutors confident as Ergenekon case takes aim at generals

The core argument in the ongoing trial of the Ergenekon terror network was that a clandestine group of people, including members of universities, the media, bureaucrats and the military, allegedly conspired to wreak havoc in the country by masterminding the killings of high-profile people, some of whom were non-Muslim minority leaders. The ultimate aim was the creation of anarchy and chaos ripe for military intervention.

The plan, of course, needed the blessing and the participation of generals who were apparently eager to overthrow the elected government based on fabricated rumors that that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) had eroded the secular structure of the state.

Now the actors in the general ranks are finally being called on by prosecutors to testify as “suspected persons” in the trial. The parts in the jigsaw puzzle look like they are finally being pieced together as the final aim of the investigation was to unearth the coup plot and find the real culprits. This news created optimism in many Turks. “I am both baffled and pleased to see that coup plotters are being tried for the first time in this country,” said celebrity Lale Mansur, who expressed confidence that picking out the bad apples in the army ranks would actually strengthen the military institution. “Thank God there are officers in the army who believe in democracy and who expose these vicious plans,” she added.

The turn of events is likely to help the government convince skeptics that the case is not a tool used by the AK Party to suppress opposition but rather a real struggle to get rid of rogue elements within the Turkish state and to make the country a full-fledged, functioning democracy away from the guardianship of the military. It seems to have proven the argument that reporters, academics, bureaucrats and military staff detained so far constitute mostly the outer layer of this major scheme destined to destroy the country’s democratic system and abolish its Parliament.

 “I think this is a very important development,” said Cengiz Alğan, a spokesman for civil activist group called Dur De (Say Stop), a broad platform that rallied people against coups in the past. He said the trial is so huge and important that limiting the reach of the case to only a handful of lower-ranking military personnel or noncommissioned officers would not do the job. The civic group brought thousands of people from across the country to voice opposition against military intervention.

Three top commanders who are mentioned in an admiral’s journal detailing plans to stage a coup d’état against the AK Party government are former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman, former Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek, all of whom retired in 2004. Another four-star general named Şener Eruygur, the former gendarmerie commander who was the most ambitious among the four top commanders of the military to overthrow the government, was already facing charges of being a senior leader of Ergenekon, which is suspected of being responsible for various unscrupulous acts that have taken place in Turkey over the years. Prosecutors claim Eruygur worked even harder to marshal support for coups after retirement, using his position as the head of the Atatürkist Thought Association (ADD).

In the eyes of prosecutors, it is very hard to discredit diaries as they were authenticated by forensic science, which confirmed the diaries originated directly from Adm. Örnek’s computer. Fortunately for Turkey, three coup plans, code-named Moonlight, Blonde Girl and the Glove, were shelved after getting blunt disapproval from then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök.

It now appears more likely that Özkök will be a key witness in the ongoing trial. He already gave a deposition to Ergenekon prosecutors in the past implicating coup plotters and signaled that he will be ready to provide testimony in open court. According to testimony included in the indictment, he already revealed that coup plotter generals showed a PowerPoint slide presentation detailing coup plans in one briefing, and he was staunchly opposed to any such initiative at the time. Facing opposition from the chief of general staff, generals had even contemplated how to force Özkök to resign or get rid of him, possibly assassinating him. 

The Turkish public first became aware of coup plans in April 2007 when a weekly news magazine, Nokta, published excerpts from a journal it said belonged to Örnek, which contained details of coup attempts dating back to 2004. Strangely enough an investigation was launched following the allegation -- not into Örnek and his coup plans but into Nokta Editor-in-Chief Alper Görmüş. The weekly news magazine was shut down several weeks after a police raid on their office. However, the journal was included in the second indictment in the Ergenekon trial in 2008 after a technical examination of the excerpts published by Nokta confirmed that they were authentic.

Görmüş said last week that the testimony of generals is expected as one of the Ergenekon prosecutors confirmed during a trial that the crux of the case was to unearth coup attempts. Admitting that the move came late, he nevertheless said prosecutors showed the public that they are taking all coup plans seriously. “There is a new era in Turkey proving that attempts to stage a coup or making plans for it are no longer considered legitimate,” he underlined.

Running over psychological barrier

There is also a psychological threshold in the case, which now seems to have been overcome by the inclusion of the other two generals and one admiral. The feeling of being “untouchable” that the four-star generals had has been replaced with democratic enthusiasm that everybody is accountable and should stand trial to face the wrath of justice when one has committed criminal acts against the republic.

 Though it is unlikely, even if Ergenekon prosecutors fail to get a conviction from the court for the crime these generals have allegedly committed, it is still an important milestone in Turkey’s democratic journey. Görmüş, the editor-in-chief of Nokta magazine, which published the admiral’s diaries, told Sunday’s Zaman in September that “even putting these suspects on trial is an important step. They used to be untouchable. I believe Nokta’s stories helped Turkey’s process of democratization.”