Military indictment seeks to quash civilian probe into action plan

The indictment was found “unconvincing” by most observers, who believe that the Turkish military is hoping to put an end to an ongoing civilian investigation into the plot and “save itself with the least damage.” The new indictment was submitted to a military court on May 12 and demands up to six years in prison and expulsion from the military for the colonel for abuse of power.

The plot, titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, suggests that the TSK made systematic preparations to damage the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to downplay the Ergenekon investigation and to gather 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.

According to the indictment, Çiçek prepared such a plot to place the Turkish military in a difficult position after he was denied a promotion. “The planned activities mentioned in the plot cannot be accepted by any Turkish citizen,” the indictment says, adding that the motive of the plot was to set the nation at odds with the military. “Why did Çiçek prepare the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism? We have reached the conviction that he prepared such a document as he was angry [with the military] after he was denied a promotion to admiral during the Supreme Military Council [YAŞ] meeting in 2007 and was under the influence of some circles to place the Turkish Armed Forces in a difficult position,” the document added.

The harshest response to the indictment came from Çiçek’s lawyer, Celal Ülgen. According to the lawyer, the document is aimed at protecting the TSK and sacrificing the colonel for that purpose. Ülgen said the claims in the indictment are not true.

“What purpose did the action plan serve to Çiçek? I mean did he get promoted thanks to the plan? No. He has never thought of harming his friends or any other person. It [the indictment] is filled with implausible claims,” he stated.

The authenticity of the action plan has been a contentious matter. After the plan made its way into a Turkish daily last year, Çiçek denied having produced the plot. But separate examinations by the İstanbul Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) contradicted his denial. Also in March, the Gendarmerie General Command’s Criminal Investigation Department announced that the signature that appears on the original copy of the action plan belongs to Col. Çiçek.

The colonel was arrested for a third time in late April on charges of working to overthrow the government and membership in a terrorist organization. Çiçek was arrested twice earlier, first last July and then in November, for suspected links to Ergenekon, but was released both times after a brief period in jail.

What raises eyebrows in the military indictment is an effort to “save” other suspects in the plot trial. According to the indictment, Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner and 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk are “victims” of the plot and had no direct links to the preparation and implementation of the subversive plan. The two are accused of working to put into operation the plot in Erzincan by civilian prosecutors overseeing an ongoing probe into Çiçek’s action plan. Among other victims, according to the military indictment, are former Eskişehir Provincial Gendarmerie Battalion Commander Col. Recep Gençoğlu and former Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Battalion Commander Col. Ali Tapan, who were arrested on terror charges earlier this year.

For most observers, the military prosecutor’s office attempted to completely blame Çiçek for the action plan and to allow the other instigators behind the plot to go unpunished.

The military indictment also accuses Çiçek of “disclosing” the action plan to a newspaper so it would be widely covered by the media in order to undermine the Turkish military.

The Taraf daily announced in June of last year that it had received the action plan documents from an unidentified military officer who wished to expose the pro-coup efforts in the military. The same officer later sent a letter to Ergenekon prosecutors and warned that the General Staff would put the blame for the plot on Çiçek and have the issue covered up.

According to the letter, press organs would incite a heated debate over the authenticity of the action plan; propaganda would be disseminated to wear down the institutions that confirmed the authenticity of the plan; opponents of a civilian probe into the plan would claim that the signature on the plot document was fabricated with a signature machine; a military investigation would focus on who “disclosed” the document rather than who prepared it; and the General Staff would put the blame for the plot on Çiçek if it failed to persuade the public that the document was false.

Yıldırım testifies in action plan trial

On Tuesday it was Aydınlık journal Editor-in-Chief Deniz Yıldırım’s turn to defend himself against accusations in the trial of the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism. Yıldırım was arrested on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and obtaining confidential state documents. Prosecutors demand a prison term of between 27 and 57 years for the editor. Yıldırım denied all accusations directed at him and argued that he was jailed upon an order to the prosecutor’s office by the prime ministry undersecretary.