Sledgehammer indictment mentions 270 suspects

According to the report, the 1,000-page document points to retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, the former head of the 1st Army, as the prime suspect. Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plot concocted in 2003 at a military gathering. According to the plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through violent acts, among which were planned bomb attacks on the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul. The plot allegedly sought to undermine the government to lay the groundwork for a military takeover. The indictment was prepared by prosecutors Mehmet Ergül, Süleyman Pehlivan, Ali Haydar and Murat Yönder.

The document will be submitted to İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı in the days ahead. Çolakkadı has two weeks to either accept the indictment or return it to prosecutors for further work.

The document names former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman, former Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek, all of whom retired in 2004, as “suspects.” The three were interrogated by prosecutors overseeing the Ergenekon probe in December of last year. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to topple the government.

Among other Sledgehammer suspects are generals and admirals on active duty, including Nejat Bek, Mehmet Otuzbiroğlu, Ahmet Yavuz, Gürbüz Kaya and Caner Bener. The “suspect list” does not mention any civilians.

What is eyebrow raising in the indictment is that the suspects are accused of a “failed attempt” to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Coup instigators are, however, charged with “working to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government” in indictments against similar plans, including the Cage Operation Action Plan and the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism.

A “failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government” requires a jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Other indictments, on the other hand, demand a life sentence without the possibility of parole for suspected coup plotters.

According to Sabah, if the Sledgehammer indictment is accepted by the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office before the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting, the members of the military whose names are mentioned in the document will not get a promotion. YAŞ convenes every August to discuss promotions within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

An article included in the Law on TSK staff does not allow the promotion of a military member if he is on trial. “A military staff member who is imprisoned or is still being tried cannot be promoted,” stipulates Article 65.

Retired military judge Faik Tarımcıoğlu said a military member who was arrested but then released from prison cannot get a promotion due to this article. “It would be illegal to promote the [military] officers who are still on trial,” he noted.

High-ranking military officers who are on trial for various charges are listed as Gen. Saldıray Berk, Gen. Hasan Iğsız, Rear Adm. Kadir Sağdıç, Gen. Yurdaer Olcan, Rear Adm. Mehmet Fatih İlğar, Col. Dursun Çiçek, Gen. Gürbüz Kaya, Rear Adm. Mehmet Otuzbiroğlu, Gen. Nejat Bek and Brig. Gen. Hıfzı Çubuklu.

Col. Çiçek is currently in prison on coup charges. He is accused of having prepared a coup plan, titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government.

Prosecutor’s office merges coup diary probe with Sledgehammer

In the meantime, the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office decided to merge on Friday an ongoing probe into an admiral’s journal detailing plans to stage a coup d’état against the AK Party government with the Sledgehammer investigation.

Adm. Örnek is accused of writing the journal, and Gen. Yalman and Gen. Fırtına are accused of contributing to said journal, which details the coup plans named Moonlight, Blonde Girl and Glove. The prosecutor’s office said the three men continued their pro-coup activities after being promoted as force commanders. The suspected coup plans were part of the Sledgehammer plan, according to the prosecutor’s office.

In April 2007, weekly newsmagazine Nokta published excerpts from a journal it said belonged to Örnek, which contained details of coup attempts dating back to 2004. An investigation was launched following the allegation -- not into Örnek and his coup plans, but into Nokta Editor-in-Chief Alper Görmüş. The newsweekly was shut down for several weeks after a police raid on their office. However, the journal was included in 2009 in the second indictment in the Ergenekon trial after a technical examination of the excerpts published by Nokta confirmed that they were authentic. Örnek has consistently denied that the journal was kept by him.