Pressure mounts on two ministers to resign

The 10th High Criminal Court on July 23 ordered the arrest of 102 suspects in the investigation into the Sledgehammer action plan, a subversive plot allegedly prepared by a clique inside the military that included plans to crash Turkish jets and bomb large mosques during prayer time to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) with the hope of eventually toppling the government. Among the officers on the to-be-arrested list were two former force commanders as well as nearly 30 active duty generals.

None of the suspects in the Sledgehammer investigation has surrendered to authorities so far even though more than 10 days have elapsed since the court’s ruling.

A former prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Appeals, Ahmet Gündel said there are claims in the Sledgehammer case indictment that suggest that the military officers attempted to overthrow the government they are answerable to. “These are not random allegations. The independent judiciary said this and presented it to the court in an indictment. The court found this serious and the evidence significant. So, it issued a warrant of arrest for the suspects. It is necessary for the interior and defense ministers to resign without attributing their incapability to the state,” suggested Gündel.

The reason for resignation calls for Atalay is because the police and gendarmerie which are answerable to Atalay have done nothing so far to arrest the military officers for whom an arrest warrant was issued and Gönül, for his part, did not dismiss these military officers from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) by using his authority.

Noting that minister Gönül does not fulfill his job by not dismissing the military officers from the TSK who are suspects in Sledgehammer case from the Reşat Petek, a retired prosecutor, said failing to ensure this, Gönül should no longer be at the helm of the defense ministry.

“Why does not Gönül dismiss these officers? There is no answer to this. I am really critical of this. Gönül is acting illegitimately by not dismissing these suspects from the TSK who face a heavy life sentence for membership to a terrorist organization. Why does not he take a risk to this effect? If he cannot fulfill his responsibilities, why does not he resign?” asked Petek.

He also said that it would be a big contradiction for Gönül to sit around the same table with Gen. Saldıray Berk at the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting. Berk also faces charges for membership to Ergenekon.

The YAŞ meeting where the dismissals and promotions of the TSK personnel are decided, began on Sunday under shadow of to-be-arrested coup generals.

“It is a big contradiction for a general against whom a public case was filed and a minister who failed to dismiss him to sit around the same table at the YAŞ meeting. This runs against laws. The defense minister should have prevented the emergence of such a situation long ago,” suggested Petek.

A crime of protecting criminals committed

Petek said failure to arrest these suspects give them the opportunity to commit the crimes they had committed. “77 of the suspects are on active duty. Those who protect and hide these suspects also commit a crime. I think prosecutors will soon file a case for the military personnel that failed to fulfill the arrest warrant over charges of protecting and abetting criminals,” said Petek.

He also noted that the General Staff’s respect for the judiciary was just in words not in essence as shown by the case of military suspects who have not been captured so far.

Power of state of law

Gündel said failure to fulfill judicial rulings was not acceptable in any form of democracy as he added: “It is never possible for suspects who face heavy charges like those in the Sledgehammer case to continue serving the military of a democratic state. Let alone continuing to serve their posts, these officers would be immediately removed from the military if this incident had taken place in any democratic country of the world.”

He regretted the fact that the power of Turkish democracy and judiciary was not sufficient to arrest the generals who attempted to overthrow the government they are answerable to.

Although the Sledgehammer plan emerged in January of this year and an indictment against the individuals who have been allegedly involved in the plot was accepted by the court on July 19, all of the active duty officers mentioned in the plan are still at their posts. However, many state officials, including police chiefs and mayors, have been removed from their posts after strong evidence emerged against them over their illegal actions.