According to a report published in yesterday's issue of Sabah, Military Prosecutor Col. Bülent Münger demanded to search the top-secret document archives in the facility, called the “cosmic room” of the 1st Army, following allegations about Doğan's Sledgehammer document, which was also discussed as a seminar subject in 2003 at the Selimiye barracks in İstanbul, according to documents published last month by the Taraf daily.
The 1st Military Command Military Court first accepted the request and granted the prosecutor a search warrant; however, the 1st Army Command filed an appeal against the warrant. The Naval Forces Northern Command Military Court, which heard the appeal, revoked the search warrant. Sabah wrote that the order to start an investigation into the Sledgehammer plan was given by Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ. General Staff legal consultant Hıfzı Çubuklu launched the probe, and the report Çubuklu prepared on the investigation was later referred to Col. Münger, the prosecutor assigned to the case. Münger requested a search of the cosmic room of the 1st Army Command to establish that the alleged Sledgehammer document was authentic. Although the prosecutor was first able to get a warrant, this was overturned by the Northern Sea Command’s court, which means that the prosecutor cannot search the cosmic room. For now, Münger can only research how it was possible for the document to be leaked to the press and talk to military personnel who attended the 2003 seminar and hear their testimony. The General Staff insists that the seminar was a planning seminar, in which worst-case scenarios, both at home and abroad, were discussed.
However, the cancelation of the search warrant does not mean the General Staff does not take the investigation seriously, according to constitutional law Professor Mustafa Şentop. “This can be evaluated based on the procedures laid out in criminal law. He applied, but his application was rejected. But the investigation is still going on, and the prosecutor will most certainly find other evidence. Once he has other documents, he can again request a search warrant; perhaps there were documents missing. But this is an important development nevertheless. At the end of the day, this probe was launched under the orders of the General Staff. They must have assigned inspectors to this. This is not only a judicial investigation; there is also an administrative aspect to it. They will hear testimonies as needed. This is only an obstacle on the way of searching the cosmic room. As the investigation unfolds and if the prosecutor makes changes to his initial application, he can eventually get the warrant,” he said.
