General staff’s dead silence on air force treason scandal draws ire

According to a report that appeared in the Bugün daily last week, an air forces officer in wire communications asked a high-ranking air forces pilot to shoot down Herons or change their flight plans because they were causing too much damage to PKK terrorists, who he spoke of as “ours.” The conversation took place on Oct. 10, 2007. An officer calling a mobile phone from a landline in Ankara said the Herons were very good at locating targets and that they had caused a great deal of damage to his own men, who were PKK militants. He said he would like the Herons to be downed or at least be given new coordinates. The commander on the other at the end of the line said, “We'll take care of that.”

In remarks printed in the Bugün daily yesterday, Defense Minister Gönül said a conflict of jurisdiction played a role in the delay of the investigation. He said the investigation was still ongoing, adding that currently the General Staff Military Prosecutor's Office was hearing the case. Gönül said the conflict of jurisdiction had been resolved by the ministry before the issue was covered in the national press. Gönül said he did not want to comment on a case that was still being heard, but he said, “Everyone responsible will pay for this, of course.”

Another official who commented on the scandal was Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin, who also said everyone involved would pay for that they did.

“These are very serious allegations; the General Staff will conduct an investigation.” Şahin also implied that he expected the General Staff to make a statement, saying, “They [the General Staff] must have decided that it would be better to make a statement when the investigation is brought to a conclusion.” Adnan Tanrıverdi, a retired senior general, said the scandal was not about negligence, but a clear act of treason that involved aiding and abetting terrorists. “This should teach us important lessons. If this case was sitting on a shelf for three years, both the perpetrators and the people who stalled it should be questioned immediately.”

Retired Maj. Şahin Akdoğan said: “We knew that terrorism was not happening only along the axes of the PKK and the Kurdish community. As someone who has served in the region, I am really not surprised. It is important that those responsible are punished, without wasting time.”

Retired Maj. Fuat Özçelebi said: “This is clear and open treason. And these people are still serving in the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK].” He called on the General Staff to make a statement immediately.

Meanwhile, Justice Platform head Adem Çevik said the transcript was clear evidence that some cliques in the military wishing to stage a coup d’état are working in cooperation with terrorists. Çevik also filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor’s office against those involved.

Treason background

The scandal broke when the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) detected the conversation and informed the Land Forces Command. The land forces commander at the time, Gen. İlker Başbuğ, ordered an investigation into the two officers on Oct. 28, 2007. Neither MİT nor the General Staff has denied the story yet.

The military prosecutor, Naci Dalkılıç, was able to identify the two air forces officers with the help of the gendarmerie and the police department. The man who asked to down Herons was identified as air forces pilot Sr. Lt. Fırat Ç., while the person who promised to take care of the problem was identified was air forces pilot Lt. Col. Selçuk Ç.

The two officers who had the conversation are also suspects in an investigation into alleged command house centers within the military organized by the Workers’ Party (İP) and other members of Ergenekon -- a clandestine network charged with attempting to overthrow the government. The prosecution attempted to merge these investigations on Sept. 9, 2008. The case was sent to air forces judge Col. Ahmet Zeki Üçok, who was conducting the İP/command houses investigation at the time. Üçok is currently the main defendant in the trial of alleged members of a gang that is accused of processing fake medical reports to exempt its clients from military service. He was apprehended last month. After the case was referred to Üçok, the investigation was shelved.

Üçok notified the Land Forces Command on Sept. 23, 2008, that he had taken over the Heron officer’s file, but instead of merging it with the command houses investigation he kept it as a separate investigation. He let the file sit until July 2009 and spoke with Fırat Ç. as a suspect. According to Bugün, Fırat Ç. was kept in custody for a night but released without even being referred to a court. Bugün also wrote that Lt. Col. Selami Selçuk Ç. was heard only as a witness and that no legal action had been taken against him.

When Üçok was arrested in the gang investigation last week, judge Col. Hakan Özbek replaced him as the air forces military prosecutor. Özbek declared the case out of his jurisdiction, saying the General Staff Military Prosecutor’s Office should deal with the case as one of the suspects might be an admiral. However, General Staff Military Judge Maj. Yaşar Yüce dismissed the case in April on the grounds that the identity of the admiral suspected in the investigation had not been clarified in the referral. The case was then sent to the Defense Ministry’s Judicial Affairs Directorate, which would ultimately decide which prosecutor’s office should follow the case. The directorate ruled that Yüce should take the case.