According to Sledgehammer documents, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had a systematic plan to create chaos in society by bombing mosques and attacking popular museums with Molotov cocktails. It also aimed to provoke clashes between Turkish and Greek warplanes over the Aegean. If the Greek warplanes had failed to shoot down a Turkish warplane, other Turkish planes would have been ordered to do it. The purpose of the attacks was to increase pressure on the government for failing to provide security to its citizens, eventually leading to a military coup.
Füle responded to a written motion from Georgios Koumoutsakos, a Greek member of the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) regarding allegations that serious incidents including a war would be provoked between Turkey and Greece.
Füle said the EU Commission stays informed about allegations that resulted in the arrest of senior military members in Turkey and finds the allegations “worrisome.”
Twenty-seven active and retired military members have been arrested in Turkey so far as part of the investigation into the Sledgehammer plot. Füle also noted that the EU would continue to closely follow the developments regarding the coup probe while demanding that the investigation into the probe is carried out by respecting the rights of the suspects and paying full respect to compliance with the principles and standards of a fair trial. The plan was drawn up in 2003 and discussed in a seminar held at the General Staff’s Selimiye barracks in March of that year. The General Staff has denied that the Sledgehammer plot was the subject of a seminar, saying it had no record of such an event. It defended itself by claiming that the Sledgehammer plan was merely a war game.
