Military chief knew Sledgehammer meeting ‘overstepped limits,' document shows

The document features the signature of Gen. Başbuğ, who was the Land Forces commander at the time, according to the Hürriyet daily. It is currently under examination at the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, which is conducting an investigation into the suspected plot. In the document, Gen. Başbuğ expresses reservations and criticism that retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, the former head of the 1st Army, went beyond the “official and legal framework” when presiding over the seminar.

The seminar was held at the General Staff’s Selimiye barracks in March 2003. The General Staff denied the existence of the document on Thursday.

The Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan was drafted shortly after the AK Party came to power. The mastermind of the plan was apparently retired Gen. Doğan. According to the plan, the military intended to systematically cause chaos in society through violent events that would lead to a military takeover. Among the planned incidents were bombings at the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul and crashing a Turkish jet after a dogfight with Greek jets.

The discovery of the plot led to the arrests of dozens of active duty and retired members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on charges of attempting to destroy the government. Gen. Doğan was arrested in late February, but was released last week in a controversial ruling. He was immediately hospitalized at the Gülhane Military Academy Hospital (GATA). A panel of judges at the İstanbul 12th High Criminal Court has, however, ordered his rearrest. He remains at the hospital.

The document shows that Gen. Başbuğ was disturbed by the course of the Selimiye seminar. According to a note the military chief wrote on the document, Gen. Doğan chose to mention the real names of individuals and institutions during the seminar. However, the seminar was supposed to be an exercise during which members of the military were to prepare a “scenario” of an external threat against Turkey and the TSK’s response in the face of such a threat. The scenario was supposed to involve pretend individuals and institutions rather than real ones.

The Sledgehammer plan was prepared under the Protocol on Cooperation for Security and Public Order (EMASYA), which allowed military operations to be carried out for internal security matters under certain conditions without authorization from civilian authorities. The protocol was abolished in February.

In the document, Gen. Başbuğ complains that Gen. Doğan insisted on setting up the Sledgehammer scenario using real names and institutions although it ran contrary to seminar regulations. The military chief also points to potential problems that could arise from such a practice. The military chief notes that some participants at the seminar backed Gen. Doğan’s decision to use real names and institutions in the scenario.

“Gen. Doğan said he would remove this mayor and that state officer from his position [in the event of a military takeover]. Such remarks overstepped his limits,” Gen. Başbuğ says in the document.

The document seems to refute a previous statement by the General Staff, which claimed that the Sledgehammer plan was part of a series of “imagined” scenarios drafted by the armed forces against the possibility of an external threat.

In late January the General Staff posted a statement on its Web site that said: “The plan seminar in question was part of the General Staff’s operations program for the years 2003-2006. The aim of the seminar is to develop operation plans and train TSK staff against an external threat to Turkey. The seminar concerned a scenario that addressed a period of increasing tension in the country.”

The statement also accused the media of polluting information through groundless allegations against the armed forces.

The General Staff, however, failed to explain why the suspected coup plan mentioned bombings at the Beyazıt and Fatih mosques in İstanbul. The statement also failed to explain why the coup document aimed to create tension between Turkish and Greek military aircraft, culminating in a Turkish jet crashing after a skirmish with Greek jets.