[Event of the week]
Court orders arrest of 102 in Sledgehammer coup plot trial

The indictment, which includes 196 suspects, names retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, the former head of the 1st Army, as its prime suspect. Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plot created 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 document also 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. Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is believed to have drafted another coup plot, will also be tried in the Sledgehammer case. The suspects are accused of a failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

According to the indictment, the individuals involved in the Sledgehammer plan intended to cooperate with terrorist organizations to pave the way for a coup. The indictment also reveals that a separate sub-plan was devised by the Sledgehammer plotters to “spell the end for civil society organizations.”

Another section of the document on the CD details the group’s plan for minorities. The document says the activities of minority educational institutions, hospitals, media outlets and associations were to be frozen until further notice. If these institutions were found to be “harmful,” their property would be seized. In the end, the coup plotters intended to shut down the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and to arrest Patriarch Bartholomew.

 Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu dismissed prospects of opening the Turkish-Armenian border in the foreseeable future, saying reports to that effect in the media were not accurate. Turkish media commentators had raised the possibility of opening of the border following reports earlier this month that the Interior Ministry had asked local authorities in the border provinces of Kars and Iğdır about preparations for a possible opening. Davutoğlu, speaking to reporters in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Saturday, said the communication with the local authorities was nothing but an exchange of information regarding the level of preparedness for a possible post-disaster situation, such as an earthquake, and on ways to deliver aid to victims.

  Semli Andak, a master music critic and an influential composer, was laid to rest in Zincirlikuyu Cemetery on Saturday following a funeral at İstanbul’s Teşvikiye Mosque.

 M. Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Muslim scholar, educator and peace activist, was awarded an honorary doctorate of education by Leeds Metropolitan University for his contribution to education, peace making and intercultural dialogue.

 Hundreds of people gathered in İstanbul’s Taksim neighborhood on Saturday to protest a YouTube ban in Turkey because of video clips that allegedly insulted the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

July 18 Sunday

 Osman Nami Osmanoğlu, the grandson of Sultan Abdülhamid II and the oldest surviving member of the Ottoman dynasty, was buried in the Sultan Mahmut II Mausoleum after a funeral service at the Fatih Mosque following the midday prayer. He was 93. His wife Rotraud Müşfika Nami Osmanoğlu, his five daughters, grandchildren, members of the Ottoman dynasty and government officials attended the funeral.

 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gathered at the İstanbul Prime Ministry Office yesterday afternoon with female representatives from various civil society groups. The prime minister greeted each of the women individually with a handshake and was accompanied by his daughter Sümeyye, who also welcomed each of the guests. Also in attendance were State Minister Selma Aliye Kavaf, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu and Minister of the Interior Beşir Atalay. The meeting’s participants included women from both women’s-interest groups and other NGOs, including Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) President Ümit Boyner and Caroline Koç.

 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nephew, Ali Riza Jalali, married Masume Onurşan in İstanbul on Sunday. Jalali is the son of Ahmadinejad’s sister, Pervin Ahmadinejad. Onurşan is the daughter of Rahmi Onurşan, the general manager of Ehlibeyt Publications.

July 19 Monday

 A land mine exploded when a vehicle drove over it in Çukurca, in eastern Hakkari, on Monday afternoon, injuring 11 soldiers in the vehicle and its civilian driver. The mine is believed to have been planted by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

 The İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment against military officers suspected of involvement in a military coup plan called the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan.

 Prime Minister Erdoğan received a special award from the World Health Organization (WHO) for his championing of Turkey’s indoor smoking ban implemented last year, at a ceremony held at the Ankara Rixos Hotel. The award was presented to Erdoğan by Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO’s regional director for Europe.

 Twenty-four of the 34 terrorist PKK members who came to Turkey 10 months ago to take advantage of the softening atmosphere in the country due to the government’s democratic initiative, have returned to the Makhmour refugee camp in northern Iraq, after many of them were charged with crimes carrying long prison sentences.

July 20 Tuesday  

 Prime Minister Erdoğan yesterday called on all citizens to vote “yes” on the government’s constitutional amendment package, planned to go to a referendum on Sept. 12, in a highly emotional speech featuring letters from youths executed in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état.

 More than 500 representatives of nongovernmental organizations met in Diyarbakır to release a joint statement on ending terrorism, calling on both sides to search for a peaceful solution. Diyarbakır Chamber of Physicians President Şemsettin Koç, who read the statement at the Diyarbakır Municipality Sümerpart Reception Hall, underlined the importance of laying down arms and starting a process of dialogue. He noted that focusing strictly on the security aspect and building a professional army would not solve the problem but instead exacerbate it.

 Six soldiers were killed when terrorists from the outlawed PKK attacked an army unit in Hakkari, near the Iraq border. Another soldier was killed in the Gürpınar district of Van when terrorists attacked a military vehicle carrying soldiers near the village of Akdoğu. A large-scale operation was launched in the region in response.

 The main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Diyarbakır branch prepared an unusual report on the Kurdish issue, proposing that all members of the PKK be pardoned and that its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, be removed from İmralı Island to live under house arrest or in exile, the Bugün daily reported on Tuesday.

 The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Tuesday ruled that the İstanbul Municipality must pay three Turkish-Greek plaintiffs 2 million euros for illegally expropriating property owned by them in the city’s Beyoğlu district in 1986.

 A military court on Tuesday rejected the case of a senior colonel being accused of having authored the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, which sought to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and the religion-based Gülen movement.

 The military court announced in a hearing that it was rejecting the case of Col. Dursun Çiçek, but also threw out an appeal from Çiçek asking for his release. Çiçek is also facing trial at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on charges of membership in Ergenekon, a clandestine organization whose members are accused of attempting to stage a coup.

 State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış on Tuesday referred to a scandal that was exposed by a newspaper a week ago involving two air forces officers accused of planning to crash the Turkish military’s Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which the military relies on to detect terrorist presence in the combat zone, as a grave situation. Bağış said the investigation launched into the two officers and a rear admiral also believed to be connected to the case, should be completed as soon as possible.

July 21 Wednesday

 A car carrying policemen from the Varto, Muş province, overturned near Başyurt in Karakoçan, Elazığ province, on Wednesday, killing three officers.

 There were six funerals for soldiers killed in a terrorist attack on a military outpost in Çukurca, Hakkari province. During the funerals of the young men, grief was coupled with doubt, suspicion and increased concerns over whether the army took the necessary precautions to prevent the raid by the PKK on the Çukurca outpost.

July 22 Thursday

 The first law that is part of the government’s democratic initiative announced last summer, in an attempt to expand the cultural rights of Kurdish citizens to marginalize separatist terrorism, was passed on Wednesday. Parliament approved a bill that improves the legal procedures used in prosecuting Kurdish children who throw stones at security forces during demonstrations. The law reduces the penalty for children accused of terrorism-related offenses and reforms legislation that has come under severe criticism from human right groups.

 A photograph showing a young man, allegedly the son of Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ, with a convicted member of the PKK appeared on the front page of the Vakit daily on Thursday. According to the Vakit report, the photograph was seized during a police raid of a suspected PKK cell in April last year along with a large number of documents belonging to the terrorist organization. Hasan Lala, using the codename Burhan, was arrested after the raid.

 Main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said if Prime Minister Erdoğan is sincere about settling accounts with the perpetrators of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état and its legacy, he should remove an article that gives the military the right to intervene under certain conditions and disband the Higher Education Board (YÖK), which was established by the junta government to control universities.

 A heavy downpour caused a flood in the eastern province of Erzurum on Thursday, resulting in the deaths of six members of the same family.

 The suspect in the murder of union leader Kemal Türkler, killed 30 years ago in one of the most prominent political assassinations in the pre-1980 era in Turkey, did not show up for the trial on Thursday, saying he “did not feel well.” The judge adjourned the trial until Sept. 23, but the incident creates uncertainty for the future of the trial. Under Turkish law the case now should be dismissed on the grounds that the statute of limitations expired.

 The 5th Chamber of the Council of State on Thursday ruled that a July 17 announcement by the Health Ministry stating that doctors employed at state hospitals must work a full day at their state positions or resign and move to private practice, is invalid and cannot be enforced.

June 23 Friday