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Reactions grow against Sledgehammer military plot
Since last week, the Taraf daily, which broke the story, has been publishing details about the plot, which includes such plans as bombing heavily frequented mosques in İstanbul and downing a Turkish jet after a skirmish with Greece.
According to the daily, the coup plan was drafted in 2003, shortly after the Justice and Development Party (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.
The General Staff denounced the allegations surrounding the plot, terming the plan a “scenario against domestic threats.”
Speaking to Today’s Zaman, former leader of the Democrat Party (DP) Süleyman Soylu lashed out at those behind the Sledgehammer plot while noting that the planners of this plot should be ashamed of themselves for devising such conspiracies against the nation.
He also said he had suspicions about the mental health of the individuals who prepared the plot.
Indicating that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) should eliminate the pro-coup mentality in its ranks, which has gradually become more widespread, Soylu said, “I regret to say that there has been a pro-junta mentality in the TSK as well as members who are aware of their responsibility and duties.”
Another reaction to the Sledgehammer plot came from retired Lt. Col. Tevfik Diker, who said it would have been more honorable for the pro-junta commanders to acknowledge their crimes and serve time in jail for several years.
Stressing that the TSK has a bad record of anti-democratic actions since the military coup of 1960, Diker said the coup plans in the Sledgehammer plot were strong evidence of a crime.
About Gen. Doğan, who is among the masterminds of the plot, he said: “Doğan should have been expelled from the military in 2002 when he made political comments about then-Prime Minister Abdullah Gül during a Supreme Military Council [YAŞ] meeting because YAŞ is not like the National Security Council [MGK]. Politics can never be voiced there.”
In the meantime, the editor-in-chief of the Taraf daily, Ahmet Altan, announced in his column yesterday that Taraf did not give any documents about external threats from the Sledgehammer plot to any press organs.
“We did not give any documents to any press organ about the ‘external threat’ section of the sledgehammer plot. If such news is published, the source of that news is not Taraf. That news reached them from another source.”
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