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New prosecutor yet to decide on general’s testimony
“Our prosecutor is examining the file. He will decide whether Gen. Berk needs to testify or when he will testify. He has not completed reading the file yet,” Kuş told reporters on Friday. Kuş also said the general did not register any “excuse” with the Erzurum courthouse for failing to testify.
Gen. Berk was summoned to testify to Erzurum prosecutors as part of an investigation into an alleged plot against certain religious orders and communities in the eastern city of Erzincan. It was the second time Gen. Berk had been summoned to give testimony as a “suspect” in the probe. The general was given until yesterday to go to the Erzurum courthouse.
According to Kuş, an Erzurum prosecutor will decide which Erzurum court should interrogate the general.
Gen. Berk is accused of helping to draw up a military plot titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism. The plot, drafted by a colonel on active duty, was intended to undermine the power of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), eventually leading to a military coup.
According to the plot, members of the military were to plant weapons and ammunition at the homes of followers of certain religious communities. Police raids at these houses would result in the arrest of those individuals. The public would then start believing that religious communities had “terrorist intentions.”
The prosecutor who summoned the general for testimony was stripped of his authorization last week by the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). The HSYK decision resulted in uncertainty about the future of the probe into Gen. Berk. Ergenekon prosecutors, however, announced that they would interrogate the general themselves if necessary.
Erzurum Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Taner Aksakal was assigned by the HSYK to continue the Gen. Berk probe. The prosecutor has the authority to not ask Gen. Berk to testify as part of the probe. If he decides to do so, he must send written notification to the general. However, if he decides to interrogate Gen. Berk, the general will have to testify as a “suspect.”
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