 |
‘Real instigators of action plan should be called to account’
“People who are familiar with the work discipline and methods of the General Staff know that a colonel cannot prepare such an action plan on his own. … The military prosecutor's office hopes to quash a civilian investigation into the plan. … Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ should respect a civilian probe into the action plan. All instigators behind the plan should be called to account. The military chief, his deputy and all commanders at the General Staff should appear before a judge and testify on the action plan,” stated Ergun Babahan, a columnist for the Star daily.
Çiçek is currently being held on coup charges. He is accused of having drafted the document for the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, which details a systematic Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plan to discredit the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the faith-based Gülen movement, to downplay the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the Ergenekon investigation. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to overthrow the government.
According to the indictment, the colonel prepared the plot without the knowledge of his commanders, and many high-profile figures, including 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk, were “victimized” by this document.
According to the Sabah daily's Nazlı Ilıcak, a letter sent to the civilian prosecutors overseeing the Ergenekon investigation claimed that the action plan was prepared by Col. Çiçek, with the contribution of Gen. Mehmet Eröz and Gen. Mustafa Bakırcı, and upon an order by Gen. Hasan Iğsız. “The letter shows that Çiçek was not alone when preparing the document,” she noted.
Iğsız, who is now the deputy chief of General Staff, was the land forces commander at the time.
Can Ataklı, a Vatan daily columnist, said he is expecting a statement from the General Staff to shed light on the questions surrounding the military indictment. “I am very saddened to see that the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] has found itself in such a position. If this disgrace [referring to the action plan] is correct, then all military commanders should be called to account. The plan did not appear just yesterday. Its existence has been known for one year. The General Staff did not make any clarifications on the existence of the document, but the military prosecutor's office said the action plan was prepared by an ‘ambitious' man who wanted to take revenge as he was denied promotion,” he added.
‘This case will go down in history as Dursun Çiçek case’
Col. Çiçek appeared before the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on Thursday to defend himself against the accusations.
The colonel denied, once again, all allegations and said the trial will go down in history as the “Dursun Çiçek case” and as a “black spot.” He argued that he has been under psychological and legal pressure for a year, following the emergence of the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism.
“This case has turned into a conspiracy against the military. It has become an effort to protect acts of reactionaryism and religious communities. The institution that has suffered damages due to this case is the armed forces,” he asserted.
Çiçek also said claims that he prepared the action plan without leaving fingerprints on the document lack credibility. “If I am supposed to have prepared a fake and confidential document, why would I undersign it? I believe I have been victim of a conspiracy for the past year. This is what we believe as an institution [TSK]. The chief of General Staff also said that they [the prosecutors] stole one year from me,” he complained.
Court has been adjourned until Aug. 31.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| BÜLENT KENEŞ |  |
||
| What befell Niyazi-i Misri in the past is happening to Fethullah Gülen now | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
| EKREM DUMANLI |  |
||
| When a call for fairness and reason finds acceptance | |||
| ARZU KAYA URANLI |  |
||
| On Memorial Day a few words to make your day memorable | |||
| CUMALİ ÖNAL |  |
||
| Critical months for Egypt | |||
| ŞAHİN ALPAY |  |
||
| Uludere, test case for democracy in Turkey | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Are the Kurds mentally divorced from Turkey? | |||
| GÖKHAN BACIK |  |
||
| Erdoğan, Gül and Davutoğlu: the inner bargain on Turkish foreign policy | |||
| DOĞU ERGİL |  |
||
| Qualities of power | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| Taking lessons from previous experiences with the military | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| Qualm | |||
| ÖMER TAŞPINAR |  |
||
| A new phase in Syria? | |||
| JOOST LAGENDIJK |  |
||
| Europe can’t have it all. Or can it? | |||
| İHSAN DAĞI |  |
||
| Turkish foreign policy: Time for a re-evaluation | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
