General Staff breaks silence on Herons, but explanation still weak

Gen. Metin Gürak, head of the General Staff's department of communications, told reporters at a weekly press briefing in Ankara that an ongoing military investigation had not provided any clue about the identity or military ranks of the officers implicated in the plan. He also said the General Staff's Military Prosecutor's Office is continuing its investigation to seize more evidence related to the scandalous plan, which was exposed by the Bugün daily last week, based on a phone conversation between a senior lieutenant who asked to shoot down Herons to protect Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists and another air forces officer who said he would “take care of it.”

The conversation took place in October 2007, and the land forces immediately launched a probe into the incident, but the officers have remained in their posts since then. According to Erhan Başyurt, the Bugün editor-in-chief, the “bad side” of the General Staff statement is its failure to determine the identities of the officers in the phone conversation.

“They should be uncovered as soon as possible. They may be in critical military positions now. That’s important,” he said, and added that the statement reaffirms the daily’s report.

Gürak also said a lengthy probe into the Heron scandal may be a matter of criticism. “But claiming that the probe is being prolonged on purpose is wrong. All individuals who are suspected of links to the conversation will be wiretapped, and their voices will be analyzed. They will later be interrogated, and we will eventually reach a conclusion. All this will take some time,” he added.

Also on Friday, Gürak voiced strong support for all members of the military who are currently on trial on charges of engaging in terrorism and plotting a coup, and vowed to maintain unity within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). “Though they stand as suspects in the judicial process, and are shown as culprits by some by violating the principle of the presumption of innocence, all TSK staff is still on duty. For us, the country, honor, honesty, duty and love are above all,” he noted.

The General Staff is under growing criticism for refusing to expel or suspend its members who are on trial in terrorism and coup-related court cases. Many members of the military were arrested, and some were later released pending trial, due to membership in a terrorist organization and participating in subversive plans to overthrow the government.

Observers believe the TSK should suspend the officers who are on trial until they are cleared of all charges. The General Staff responded harshly to the calls yesterday, and vowed to stand by its members irrespective of whether they are guilty or innocent.

On the probable promotion at the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting, slated for Aug. 1-4, of military generals who are on trial, Gürak said: “The procedure applied to TSK staff on trial is openly indicated in Article 65 of the Law on TSK Personnel. This law is not secret. It can be found anywhere and examined. All claims put forward without the examination of this law are lacking in seriousness. All issued not covered by restrictions mentioned in the law should be left to the evaluation of YAŞ,” he said. The said article stipulates that a member of the military who is imprisoned or being tried cannot be promoted.

The general also touched on the threat of terrorism stemming from the outlawed PKK, and said the latest military operations had pushed the terrorist organization into a corner. “We frequently come across wireless records among terrorists in which they say that they are in a difficult position. Terrorists have also suffered from heavy losses in recent clashes with the security forces,” he said.

Since June 25, 2010, 19 soldiers have been killed in terrorist attacks carried out by the PKK, while 47 security force members and five civilians were injured. In the attacks, 45 terrorists were killed and 13 terrorists surrendered to security forces.