Generals, admirals arrested in coup probe, more to come

The discovery of a plot, allegedly drafted by the military in 2003 and designed to topple the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), led to the detention of 49 active duty and retired members of the military on Monday. This was the highest profile crackdown ever carried out on the military. Twelve of the detainees were referred to the court on Wednesday.

İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court ruled for the arrest of Adm. Ramazan Cem Gündeniz, Adm. Aziz Çakmak, retired Gen. Mehmet Kaya Varol, retired Gen. İzzet Ocak, retired Gen. Metin Yavuz Yalçın and retired admirals Feyyaz Öğütçü, Ali Deniz Kutluk and Özer Karabulut as well as retired senior colonels Ümit Özcan and Col. Ali İhsan Çuhadaroğlu, Col. Emin Küçükkılıç, Col. Suat Aydın, Col. Kubilay Aktaş. The suspects stand accused of “attempting to overthrow the government of the Republic of Turkey by using force and violence,” a crime under Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 312, and “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” criminalized under TCK Article 314.

Retired Col. Özcan's lawyer, Bülent Kılıç, said his client would be appealing the arrest order. Özcan was incarcerated in Metris Prison following the issuance of the court order. “My client was arrested over the mention of his name in a document from a dubious place,” he said, adding: “My client's name is mentioned in a document sent by a person whose identity has not been revealed. He is facing charges over membership in an armed group and planning a coup d'état. There are no other accusations or proof aside from this document. We will appeal the ruling within seven days.” The court also on Wednesday ordered that six of the detainees be released. It was not, however, clear whether they were freed pending trial.

Prosecutors were still questioning dozens of other high-ranking officers, including former commanders of the navy, air forces and special forces. The detainees were questioned over their suspected links to the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot. The subversive plots included blowing up mosques during Friday prayers, attacking museums with bombs and other explosives during a visit by young students and turning stadiums into open-air prisons capable of holding tens of thousands of people if they challenged the coup troops.

On Tuesday evening Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ gathered his generals at an extraordinary meeting at the General Staff in Ankara. Gen. Başbuğ had postponed a planned visit to Egypt after the detentions.

Tuesday’s meeting was attended by 15 generals on active duty. A statement posted on the General Staff Web site read that the meeting intended to evaluate the “serious situation” that had erupted as part of an investigation being conducted by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. The General Staff was referring to the Ergenekon investigation, a probe into a clandestine terrorist organization accused of working to overthrow the government.

Suspects questioned

The prosecutors, according to new reports yesterday, directed a lengthy list of questions that took up 80 pages regarding the Sledgehammer plan to the detainees. The suspects were questioned on the location of the ammunition they planned to use to realize the plot. The prosecutors also asked for the names of other collaborators, referred to in the documents about the alleged coup plan as the “chosen cadres.”

They in addition asked the suspects about the location of two bombs that, according to the plan, were going to be used to attack the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques during the busy Friday prayer hour. Another question on the list was about Oraj, or Thunderstorm, a subplot that included the deliberate downing of a Turkish jet over the Aegean in order to spark a conflict with Greece. The suspects had to answer whether they were assigned a responsibility in the Oraj plan, allegedly put together by former Air Forces Commander İbrahim Fırtına, who was also detained on Monday.

The Sledgehammer plan was allegedly drawn up in 2003 and discussed in a seminar held at the General Staff’s Selimiye barracks in March of that year. The suspects also had to respond to a question on the content of this seminar. Reports said the prosecutors handed them an uninterrupted voice recording from the seminar as well as its 175-page transcript.

Another question the suspects were asked pertained to former force commanders Gen. Fırtına and Adm. Özden Örnek. The suspects were asked if they had indeed attempted to overthrow the government; to describe all they know about the Sledgehammer plan, including where and by whom it was devised, under whose orders it had been developed and the respondent’s own role in the plan; the place of the first meeting; who among the 168 officers that were part of the plan the respondent had contacted; whether the order had been given by then 1st Army Commander Gen. Çetin Doğan, who was also detained on Monday; and the specific roles of retired Gen. Fırtına and retired Adm. Örnek.