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Constitutional court rules out civilian trials for military
State news agency Anatolian said the Constitutional Court was unanimous in its ruling on the legislation, dubbed by many a "civilian revolution" when it was passed in the European Union candidate country last July.
The law, aimed at meeting EU membership criteria, would have allowed civilian courts the power to prosecute military personnel accused of crimes against national security, constitutional violations and attempts to topple the government during peacetime for the first time.
Turkey's secular opposition Republican People's Party had challenged the law however at the Consititutional Court.
Ties between the ruling AK Party and the military, which has long enjoyed immunity, have come under strain over an investigation into an alleged right-wing network plotting to topple the government in which retired and active officers have been detained.
The military has ousted four elected governments in the last 50 years in what it deemed were threats to the secular order, but has seen its reputation tarnished with the exposure of a series of alleged plots in recent months.
The armed forces had warned the new law could open the door for politically motivated trials against an army establishment at odds with the AK Party.
The court took up the essence of the issue yesterday morning on the eve of a recently exposed alleged military plot called the “Balyoz (Sledgehammer) Security Operation Plan,” which aimed to topple the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The coup plan -- a nearly 5,000-page document -- was allegedly agreed at a military meeting attended by 162 active members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), including 29 generals. According to the plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through violent acts, among which were bomb attacks planned for the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul.
The military has seen its once formidable influence in public life wane as a result of EU-inspired reforms.
Secularists accuse the AK Party, whose leaders once belonged to a Islamist party that was banned, of having a secret Islamist agenda. The AK Party denies this and points to its liberal reforms since it first took office in 2002.
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