Military e-memo draws condemnations on its 3rd anniversary

The April 27 statement, more commonly referred to as the "e-memorandum" because it was published online, said the military was following with "concern" the debate over the secular system in the presidential election and would "openly display its position and attitude when it becomes necessary."

It came amid a political crisis over the election of the country's president in 2007 as the Republican People's Party (CHP) threatened to walk out of Parliament if the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) presidential nominee had a spouse who wore the Islamic headscarf.

In late April in 2007, the AK Party announced that then-Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül, whose wife wears a headscarf, was its presidential nominee. Shortly after that, a former prosecutor put forward an idea based on his interpretation of the Constitution, claiming that the parliamentary quorum for a presidential election was 367. The AK Party had 361 seats in Parliament, and Gül received 361 votes from his party's deputies in the first round of voting.

The CHP appealed the decision at the Constitutional Court, which canceled the first round of the vote. But before the court even announced its decision, on April 27, at 11:17 p.m. on Friday night, the e-memorandum was published on the General Staff's website. It was revealed last year that former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt had penned it down.

“It should not be forgotten that the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] are a side in this debate and are a staunch defender of secularism,” it said. “The Turkish Armed Forces are against those debates ... and will display its position and attitudes when it becomes necessary. No one should doubt that.”

The General Staff’s statement cited as examples a series of events, such as a failed attempt in Ankara to hold a Quran reading competition on April 23, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day.

“It was an attempt for a military coup,” said Faik Tarımcıoğlu, a former military prosecutor and judge.

“If the government did not stand firmly against it, a military coup may have been unavoidable,” he added.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the senior members of his party had immediately written a counterstatement that was read in the afternoon on April 28.

“In a democratic country governed by the rule of law, it is unimaginable for the General Staff, which is attached to the prime minister, to make a statement against the government,” it said. “It is regrettable that there were utterly wrong expressions about the relations between the government and the General Staff. All institutions of our state should be more sensitive and careful.”

The TSK has carried out three coups in the last 50 years -- in 1960, 1971 and 1980 -- and in 1997 it intervened to force Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, from power.

Tarımcıoğlu also stated that the AK Party increased its percentage of votes from 30 percent to 47 percent in the July 2007 elections as a result of the public’s reaction to the e-memorandum.

Star daily columnist and writer Mehmet Altan said it is “scandalous” and “outrageous” that the military’s e-memorandum still remains on its website.

“Not only does the statement remain on the site, the person who said that he was the one who penned the statement still walks freely on the streets,” Altan said, referring to Gen. Büyükanıt, who also stated this year that the April 27 statement was not a memorandum.

“It did not interfere in the presidential election process. It just voiced the TSK’s sensitivity on secularism,” Gen. Büyükanıt had said in an interview with the Milliyet daily in February. In 2009, Gen. Büyükanıt said he was the author of the controversial statement.

Lat year in October, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ pledged to clear the TSK of antidemocratic staff who engaged in unlawful acts during a tête-à-tête meeting with Prime Minister Erdoğan. However, most civilian attempts to put military men on trial for their attempts to interfere in civilian affairs have been blocked by the military courts.

Writer Altan called on intellectuals, writers, members of the judiciary and other people who express opinions in Turkey’s political affairs to display a “democratic attitude” and show what they had done following the April 27 e-memorandum.

“That’s what I did. I put my April 28, 2007 column in the paper for tomorrow [April 28],” he said.

However, Altan said the AK Party has not delivered what it promised when it was elected in 2007.

“We should have had a new constitution to replace the military tutelage system of the Sept. 12 Constitution,” he said. “What we have is a partial reform package which is an anomaly.”

According to Tarımcıoğlu, today’s reform package is also the result of the public’s expectation from the AK Party following several anti-democratic attempts by the country’s judiciary.

He recalled that the ruling party attempted to change the Constitution but faced a closure threat by the Constitutional Court in March 2008.

Meanwhile, an anti-coup group is holding a rally in Taksim today. The Coalition of 70 Million Steps Against Coups spokesman Şenol Karakaş said they would like to warn the top brass who interfere in civilians’ affairs.

“Let’s defend our freedom against all coups, coups planners, supporters of coups, people who planned to bomb mosques, patriarchates and children’s museums, people who desire to close down unions and political parties, people who would like to see other May 27, March 12, Sept. 12, Feb. 28 and April 27, and people who plan the Sledgehammer, the Cage, Moonlight and Blondegirl [plots],” read the statement of the coalition, referring to past coups and coup attempts.

The group will form a “human chain against coups” in front of the Galatasaray High School in Taksim at 7 p.m.

In addition, the Union of Judges and Prosecutors for Democracy and Freedom (Demokrat Yargı), which was founded as an alternative to the highly politicized Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), released a press statement yesterday, calling for an investigation into those behind the April 27 intervention.