Turkey closer than ever to trying coup instigators

Turkey has attempted several times to shed light on covert Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plans to get rid of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government through various coup plans. The attempts coincided with the launch of the Ergenekon probe in 2007. Monday's detentions are, however, more “to the point” than all the previous attempts, according to most observers, as they are directly aimed at making many members of the military stand trial on coup charges. Among those detained are retired Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına, former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek, former 1st Army Commander Gen. Ergin Saygun, retired Gen. Engin Alan and several retired colonels. The detentions came as part of the investigation into the Sledgehammer and Cage coup plans, allegedly devised by military members of Ergenekon, a criminal gang charged with plotting to topple the government.

Dozens of suspects have stood trial in the Ergenekon case thus far, including members of the military, academia and the business world. They were accused of many charges, including working to destroy Parliament and the government. Those detained on Monday are, however, directly accused of preparing plans to topple the government.

Turkey has uncovered several coup plans thus far, all masterminded by active duty and retired members of the armed forces. Sarıkız (Blonde Girl), Ayışığı (Moonlight), Eldiven (Glove), Balyoz (Sledgehammer) and Kafes (Cage) are only some of those plans. They were exposed after the Ergenekon investigation was initiated, a probe which is widely accepted as an opportunity for Turkey to face its dark and hidden past. In late December, Ergenekon prosecutors interrogated Gen. Fırtına, Adm. Örnek and Gen. Aytaç Yalman over their knowledge of the Moonlight, Blonde Girl and Glove coup plans. The three were released after the interrogation and did not stand trial.

In April 2007, weekly news magazine Nokta published excerpts from a journal it said belonged to Örnek, which contained details of coup attempts dating back to 2004. An investigation was launched following the allegation -- not into Örnek and his coup plans, but into Nokta Editor-in-Chief Alper Görmüş. The magazine was shut down several weeks after a police raid on their office but Örnek’s journal was included in the second indictment in the Ergenekon trial in 2009 after a technical examination of the excerpts published by Nokta confirmed that they were authentic.

However, the military members who were taken into custody on Monday will most likely appear before the judge soon on coup charges.

International Federation for Human Rights Vice President Yusuf Alataş told Today’s Zaman that the Ergenekon investigation has come close to its “real objective” for the first time. “All [Ergenekon] trials so far have been nothing but the indirect trials of coup plotters. But the latest wave of detentions has pointed the finger at those who are really responsible. We are about to directly try the coup instigators,” he remarked.

Alataş also said there needs to be a strong level of trust between politicians, the public and the judiciary in order to allow a robust investigation. “Social support is a sine qua non for the ‘healthy’ trial of coup plotters. Segments of the public that are sensitive toward such trials need to throw their support behind the Ergenekon investigation,” he noted.

Fikri Sağlar, a member of the parliamentary commission set up to investigate the Susurluk incident, which revealed connections and cooperation between the police, politicians and criminal gangs, said charges of “working to destroy the government” and “rendering Parliament ineffective” stand as means for a coup d’état. “The Ergenekon probe has remained a lame duck since the very beginning. Turkey has failed to directly try coup plotters. I hope they will succeed it this time,” Sağlar stated.

Turkey first brought coup plotters to trial in 1958

Turkey tried the suspected instigators of a coup in 1958 for the first time in its history after an army officer informed the prime minister of the time, Adnan Menderes, of coup preparations. It was Maj. Samet Kuşçu who raised the alarm about a junta group that was planning to stage a military coup.

Nine high-ranking officers were arrested and tried by the military court. The verdict was, however, disappointing. The nine were cleared of the charge while the informer, Kuşçu, was discharged from the military and sentenced to two years in prison for slander. But in May 1960, when the military staged the coup, the nine officers who had been tried and released were one of the cells in the junta. The junta executed Menderes, Foreign Minister Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Finance Minister Hasan Polatkan after the coup.