[Event of the week]
General Staff finally acknowledges authenticity of Çiçek’s coup plot

At a June 26 press conference at the General Staff, the military chief termed the coup plan a “piece of paper” and claimed that the document was fabricated with the aim of damaging and defaming the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Başbuğ also said another investigation could be initiated by the Military Prosecutor’s Office if further evidence of the authenticity of the document was discovered. “We are a country governed by the rule of law. If new evidence of the authenticity of the document is discovered, another investigation could be launched,” he vowed.

The plot in question, titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, was reportedly drafted by Col. Dursun Çiçek and suggests that the TSK made systematic preparations to damage the image of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the Ergenekon inquest. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government.

The General Staff went on to say in Monday’s statement that a military prosecutor recently demanded the arrest of Çiçek but that the General Staff Military Court refused to arrest the colonel on March 1. Çiçek has been arrested twice, first in July and then in November, for suspected links to a terrorist organization, but was released after brief detentions in jail. The colonel is believed to be key to the exposure of the pro-coup junta within the armed forces.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said nobody should be uncomfortable while institutions are being purged of criminal elements, in a reference to the recent arrests of high-ranking military officers on charges of devising subversive coup plots.

Feb. 28 Sunday

Tens of thousands of people throughout Turkey once again denounced the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military coup on its 13th anniversary with mass rallies, calling for an end to the influence of the postmodern coup, which was intended to last for “a thousand years.”

 President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Erdoğan and Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ were among the dignitaries who attended a funeral prayer for İhsan Doğramacı, a renowned academic who founded Turkey’s Higher Education Board (YÖK) as well as two respected private universities.

İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin sent a notice to the İstanbul Police Department and the Ankara Central Command on Feb. 26 telling them not to allow searches at the addresses of suspects as part of an investigation into an alleged military plot to topple the government, a move many jurists termed “unlawful” and “unacceptable” and agreed constitutes an attempt to block further operations and detentions as part of the probe.

 Prime Minister Erdoğan said his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) plans to submit a comprehensive constitutional reform package to Parliament by the end of March. “A partial constitutional amendment package will be presented to Parliament soon, and a comprehensive constitutional reform package will be presented to Parliament by the end of March,” Erdoğan said following a meeting of the Reform Watch Group, established to oversee Turkey’s European Union accession process, on Sunday.

Two more high-ranking military officers were arrested on Sunday as part of an investigation into the Sledgehammer coup plot allegedly devised by the military to overthrow the government, bringing the total number of arrests to 35.

March 1 Monday

The Gendarmerie General Command’s Criminal Investigation Department announced that a signature that appears on the original copy of an alleged military plot against the AK Party and the faith-based Gülen movement belongs to Col. Dursun Çiçek.

A new military investigation was launched into a coup plot allegedly drafted by a colonel on active duty after new evidence was acquired pointing to the plot’s authenticity, the General Staff announced in a statement posted on its Web site on Monday.

The Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court accepted an indictment against Erzincan Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, who is accused of starting to put into practice a military plot against religious individuals. Third Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk is listed as the prime suspect in the indictment, which argues that the Erzincan suspects are part of the larger coup-plotting terrorist organization, Ergenekon.

World-renowned Turkish pop star Tarkan Tevetoğlu, who goes by his first name in the entertainment world, was released on Monday after testifying to police on drug charges.

The Council of State approved a recent request from labor confederations to annul the time limit granted for workers dismissed from the former alcohol and tobacco monopoly, Tekel, to switch to a temporary employment program.

Turkey’s exports climbed by a robust 20.34 percent in February over the same month of the preceding year to reach $8.23 billion, with exports to European countries approaching their pre-crisis levels, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) data showed.

March 2 Tuesday

According to data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), unemployment rose by 3 percentage points between 2008 and 2009, reaching 14 percent by the end of the difficult 2009.

An online petition was initiated by a group of Turkish columnists in protest of Prime Minister Erdoğan, who said media bosses should control their columnists at a meeting of his party’s provincial chairmen last week. The declaration published on the Web site reads, “We, the undersigned columnists, think that the statement by Prime Minister Erdoğan, saying newspaper bosses must control their columnists, is against freedom of the press, to which we owe our existence, and generally against the ideal of a ‘democratic Turkey,’ and we protest this statement.”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said a referendum proposed by the AK Party on a constitutional reform package will spell the end of the AK Party government.

Turkey could withdraw its troops in Cyprus if there is a settlement on the divided island, Prime Minister Erdoğan said, asserting that Ankara is ready to do its share for an end to the island’s decades-old division. Erdoğan’s remarks came in a rare interview with three Greek Cypriot newspapers, published on Tuesday.

As Parliament began deliberating a bill on Tuesday to reduce the waiting period to hold a referendum on amendments to the Constitution, the main opposition CHP kicked up a row, saying a one-year period is needed for the law to go into effect, an argument that was found to be without justification by legal scholars.

A concert was held in İstanbul on Tuesday night in which many famous Turkish singers participated to help raise money for Haiti’s quake victims following a devastating earthquake that hit the island on Jan. 12.

March 3 Wednesday

Balıkesir Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Murat Özçelik was arrested as part of a probe into the Sledgehammer plan, which includes subversive plots to foment chaos in the country with the ultimate goal of a military takeover.

The so-called Armenian genocide issue should be left to historians; the most important thing is Turkish-Armenian friendship, Armenian Football Federation (AFF) President Ruben Hayrapetyan told Today’s Zaman while watching the training of the Armenian national soccer team in Antalya, which was preparing for a match with Belarus.

Fueled by recent tax hikes, the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 1.45 percent in February over the preceding month, putting annual inflation at 10.13 percent, data released by TurkStat on Wednesday showed.

Any proposed constitutional reform package must include a change that requires the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals to seek Parliament’s permission before opening a case to shut down a political party, Parliamentary Constitutional Commission President Burhan Kuzu said.

In a tragic turn of events, a vehicle carrying people from İstanbul to Sivas’ Bahçe Village for a funeral was involved in an accident that killed five passengers -- following which a passenger bus traveling to the funeral for the five overturned in another accident that injured 25 mourners.

March 4 Thursday

Three people were killed and 30 others injured as a bus carrying soldiers overturned in the eastern province of Bitlis.

Former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman was the figure who revealed an illegal formation within the military linked to the Ergenekon terrorist organization, according to a voice recording that allegedly features the voice of Ergenekon suspect Gen. Levent Ersöz, published on the Web site metacafe.com.

The Council of State in Ankara was examined by a team of experts led by Ankara Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor Nuri Yiğit over allegations that phones at the institution had been illegally wiretapped.

In a move that won the praise of Turkey, the Belgian police launched orchestrated raids on premises suspected of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and detained dozens of senior members of the outlawed group, including two of its leading figures, Zübeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal. Roj TV, a mouthpiece of the PKK, was also among the targets of the Belgian raids. The television station’s broadcasting was halted following a raid on the station’s headquarters in Denderleeuw.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) parliamentary group deputy chairman Bengi Yıldız joined forces with headscarved women who were forced to take off their headscarves while studying at İstanbul University by then-Vice Rector Nur Serter to protest against Serter. Yıldız, who engaged in a polemic with CHP İstanbul deputy Serter last week, held a news conference along with headscarved women who were victimized by Serter’s policies, BDP İstanbul deputy Ufuk Uras and AK Party Konya deputy Hüsnü Tuna.

The US House Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the Armenian “genocide” resolution that labels the 1915 ethnic clashes between Armenians and Turkish communities as “genocide.” Turkey recalled its newly appointed ambassador to Washington, Namık Tan, for consultations few minutes after the voting. Analysts claimed that it will also greatly obstruct efforts on the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia. The committee voted 23-22 to approve the non-binding resolution, clearing it for consideration by the full House. The resolution calls on President Barack Obama to ensure US policy formally refers to the massacre as genocide, putting him in a tight spot.

 Chief of General Staff Gen. Başbuğ and chief terror suspect Gen. Berk were photographed together despite efforts to prevent pictures from being taken, in the province of Kars, where winter military exercises were being held.

A vice principal shot and stabbed a pre-school teacher to death on Thursday in front of her students in İstanbul. The incident occurred at the İstanbul Ticaret Odası Elementary School in the city’s Bağcılar district. Vice Principal Ekrem Şavran (33) shot pre-school teacher Derya Çakır (25), after which he stabbed her and slit her throat. The incident was reportedly not heard by others in the school since they were carrying out an earthquake drill.

March 5 Friday

 A group of Ankara dolmuş and minibus drivers closed one of the city’s busiest roads to protest an administrative court ruling decreasing fares to prices last seen six years ago. The drivers convened in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals while a number of them closed Atatürk Boulevard in Kızılay to traffic with their dolmuşes.