Titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, the plot was reportedly drafted by Col. Dursun Çiçek and suggests that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) made systematic preparations to damage the image of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the faith-based Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to garner 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.
Following tests conducted by the İstanbul Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the İstanbul Police Crime Laboratory, the Gendarmerie General Command’s Criminal Investigation Department also confirmed the authenticity of the document last month.
The Military Prosecutor’s Office recently informed the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that it wants to conduct chemical tests on the document. Such tests would clarify whether the fingerprints on the document really belong to Col. Çiçek.
Experts, however, cautioned civilian prosecutors that the original document might be damaged during such tests. “This might indeed turn the document into a piece of paper,” they warned.
At a June 26 press conference, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ referred to the document as a “piece of paper” and accused the Turkish daily that published a photocopied version of the plot of working to undermine the armed forces.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office told the Military Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday that it will not permit any such tests on the plot document and asked the office to forward the document to them immediately.
