In an interview published in the Star daily yesterday, Özkök said he had not seen the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan, which included a list of steps to be taken to stage a coup d’état. The document, prepared in 2003, was exposed last month by the Taraf daily. It included plans such as bombing mosques at times of prayer to foment unrest in the country to eventually justify a military takeover. The Sledgehammer plan was discussed at a military seminar in March 2003.
Taraf published documents from this seminar as well as a voice recording featuring the closing speech of retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, the person who prepared the Sledgehammer plan. Doğan has admitted that the recording indeed featured his voice. Doğan said the seminar was about scenarios and war games designed for discussion and not a coup plan. However, the documents and voice recording seem to suggest otherwise, as they solely concentrate on what the generals call “domestic threats.” In the face of the allegations, Doğan said nothing in the military could happen outside the knowledge of the chief of general staff, who was Özkök at the time. He called on Özkök to speak out on the issue.
Özkök, believed to have played an important role in preventing a possible military coup during his term as chief of general staff, told Star that he had ordered a planning seminar to be held, but none of the documents that were published in the press in the past week were presented to him, he said. Although Özkök said he did not want to speak on matters that were being looked into by the judiciary, stating that he is not an ordinary person and that his every word would have consequences, he later told Star: “All I am going to tell you is this: It was openly written what kind of seminar was planned in the relevant General Staff directive. The said retired general’s [Doğan] speech that was posted online on Jan. 26 on the t24 Web site is about what elements of the seminar he put an emphasis on.”
The official directive states that the purpose of the seminar was “to develop operational plans regarding foreign threats and ensure that relevant personnel are well trained and prepared.” However, the documents published by Taraf clearly show that the situation “at home” was the main topic of the seminar. In response to the question on how he could have possibly ordered such a seminar, Özkök said: “Naturally, as part of the chain of command, the results of the seminar are reported. The Land Forces Command and the General Staff examine and present the summary to their commanders. Things that can be considered as constituting a crime such as those published by the press were not presented to me. I do not think these were included in the results of the seminar either. The general who appears to be implicated is essentially denying these. But if these documents that have come out many years later are examined and established as authentic, the judiciary will do what is necessary.”
