[Event of the week] YAŞ sees strong resistance by military against civilian body

Since no one was appointed to the position of land forces commander, as Erdoğan opposed Iğsız’s appointment, Gen. Işık Koşaner, the current land forces commander, could not be appointed the new chief of General Staff, although his promotion is almost certain. Gendarmerie General Commander Gen. Atilla Işık was expected to be appointed the new land forces commander following Erdoğan’s opposition to Gen. Iğsız, but, in a surprising move, Gen. Işık asked to retire on Thursday.

Gen. Iğsız was hoping to be promoted and replace Gen. Koşaner, who is expected to step in as the new chief of General Staff. But he was called to testify as a suspect in the probe into Ergenekon on Monday.

Official Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) policy gives the government a decisive role in the appointment and promotions of officers, while the top military brass’ appointment list is ultimately only a suggestion. However, there has long been a tradition of top commanders determining the command echelon of the military and the civilian body merely rubber-stamping it without any objection.

 Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir sparked a new controversy by calling for “democratic autonomy” for Kurds, whereby the Kurds will have a local parliament in southeastern Anatolia and fly their flag next to the Turkish flag. “The Kurdish problem could be solved through democratic autonomy,” Baydemir, a politician from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), said on Saturday during a panel discussion in the eastern province of Tunceli.

Aug. 1 Sunday

 In what could be seen as a confession that the Constitutional Court overstepped its authority in reviewing the substance of a government-sponsored reform package last month, the top court’s president, Haşim Kılıç, said the court broadened a constitutional article on its authority while examining the package and reviewed its content. “Our court brought a new measure in reviewing the package on procedural grounds, which is whether the package includes a forbidden proposal, by making an addition to Article 148 (of the Constitution), and in this way it examined the content of the changes,” Kılıç said in the court’s reasoned decision on an appeal against the package. Kılıç was referring to three unchangeable articles of the Constitution.

 This year’s Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting -- without doubt among the most critical YAŞ meetings ever held -- began with all eyes turned to the situation of 11 generals whose arrest was ordered by a civilian court as part of a coup plot probe. The generals were hoping to be promoted during the YAŞ meeting.

 Four people, including former local politicians, were killed when their vehicle hit a land mine believed to have been planted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Batman. Among the four were Sedat Özevin, a former chairman of the Batman Bar Association, Salih Özdemir, the former provincial chairman of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish People’s Labor Party (HEP), and Sadi Özdemir, a former chairman of the Human Rights Association’s (İHD) Batman branch.

 A senior deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) publicly departed from his party’s line on a series of constitutional amendments, saying all those who consider themselves democrats should vote for the government-backed reform. “As a CHP member for 35 years, I am openly saying ‘yes’ so that traces of the Sept. 12 [1980] coup will be erased,” Eşref Erdem, an Ankara deputy from the CHP, said in an interview with the Sabah daily, published on Sunday.

 Well-respected Turkish intellectual and scholar Fethullah Gülen said a constitutional reform package set to be presented to a public vote on Sept. 12 contains amendments that are critical for Turkey’s future, calling on the public to vote “yes” on the referendum. Saying that political concerns should be left aside when deciding on the changes, Gülen said the package should not be viewed politically but be evaluated from the perspective of “what it would bring to the nation.”

Aug. 2 Monday

 The family members of seven soldiers who were killed as a result of a land mine explosion planted by the Turkish military last year in Çukurca in Hakkari province have protested the General Staff, which discussed the promotion of the suspected generals in this year’s YAŞ meeting. The families put the blame for the June killings of nine soldiers by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in Şemdinli on Maj. Gen. Gürbüz Kaya, the commander of the Hakkari Division Command.

 Israel decided to cooperate with an investigation proposed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, officials said. Senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted “to allow the panel access to material gathered” by two Israeli committees conducting separate probes into the May 31 incident in which eight Turkish and one American activist were killed.

 Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) informed 30 security units -- including the General Staff -- of every second of a terrorist attack on the Hantepe outpost in Çukurca, Hakkari province, in mid-July, but security forces failed to take action against the terrorist group, according to a report that appeared in the Taraf daily. The daily alleged that the security units watched the attack live from the intelligence provided by the Herons but did not send any additional firepower to the scene of assault to save the wounded soldiers. The attack resulted in the deaths of seven soldiers.

 A prosecutor who has been investigating several websites set up by the General Staff to back the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TSK) alleged propaganda campaigns against civilian groups summoned 19 active duty and retired military officers, including 1st Army Corps Commander Gen. Hasan Iğsız, to testify as suspects in the Ergenekon probe by Friday. Ergenekon is a clandestine organization nested within the state and bureaucracy aiming to foment chaos in society with the eventual aim of ensuring a military takeover.

Aug. 3 Tuesday

  The third day of the YAŞ gathering saw surprise meetings between President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan arrived at the Çankaya presidential palace, where the president was to host a luncheon for YAŞ members, earlier than the scheduled hour and the two had a face-to-face meeting. Another summit came after the luncheon as Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ and Erdoğan stayed at the palace for some time and held a meeting after other members had left. The meeting lasted more than two hours. The subject of dozens of military officers who are on trial in a number of cases dominated the meeting, according to news reports.

 Even crows would laugh at us if we say no one within the TSK had plotted to stage a coup against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) after it came to power as a single party in 2003, retired Adm. Atilla Kıyat said.

 The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) convened on Tuesday to discuss the yearly appointment of judges and prosecutors in the 2010 summer decree. The decree contains a total of 1,325 judges and prosecutors, 138 presiding judges and public prosecutors and 135 administrative judges and prosecutors. The HSYK members gathered in the Dikmen Hakimevi, a social facility for judges and prosecutors.

 Voting in the referendum started at border gates and the process went smoothly in some areas but had some problems in others. Near the province of Edirne, at the Kapıkule border gate eight, in Hamzabeyli one and in İpsala two ballot boxes were opened for voting. Citizens need to have Turkish passports and proof of voter registration to be able to cast their votes.

 A soldier was killed and two others were wounded after their patrol car was shot at in the town of Akkuş in the Black Sea province of Ordu on Tuesday afternoon.

  Bestami Kılıç, a member of the Payas municipal city council from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), was released after briefly being detained by Hatay police due to his suspected links to a terrorist attack in the Dörtyol district that left four police officers dead last week. Kılıç was detained on Monday. His lawyer, Mehmet Sarpkaya, stated that his client was released after being interrogated by prosecutors.

Aug. 4 Wednesday

 Erdem, a senior deputy from the main opposition CHP, was referred to the party’s disciplinary board after he announced that he would vote in the affirmative on the upcoming Sept. 12 referendum. Erdem’s CHP has been carrying out a “no” campaign against the constitutional amendment package. Erdem departed from his party’s opposition line over the weekend and said he would vote “yes” on the referendum.

 Zekeriya Öz, the top prosecutor overseeing the probe into the Ergenekon terrorist organization, announced that an inquiry has been launched into a number of figures, including the former leader of the CHP, Deniz Baykal, over claims that they were working to influence the judiciary.

 Retired Col. Ahmet Şentürk was arrested by an İstanbul court as part of an ongoing probe into an alleged coup plan, making him the first person to be imprisoned due to suspected links to the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot.

 Turkey’s presidential palace announced President Gül had approved YAŞ decisions on the fourth day of the gathering on Wednesday. 1st Army Corps Commander Gen. Iğsız failed to be appointed as Land Forces commander. None of the 11 generals whose arrest was ordered by a court on July 23 as part of the Sledgehammer coup plot probe were promoted.

Aug. 5 Thursday

 Five people died and another was injured in a traffic accident in the northwestern province of Balıkesir on Thursday.

 A group of five experts from İstanbul Technical University (İTÜ) made public the findings of their recent examination of Zonguldak’s Karadon mine, and suggested that a deadly blast that took place in May was most probably caused by a cigarette smoked by one of the mine workers.

 The General Staff, instead of providing a clear explanation for a scandal involving allegations that a senior lieutenant ordered Heron UAVs to be shot down to protect PKK terrorists, conducted raids of the homes of people in the military suspected of leaking the tapes that started the controversy.

 Gendarmerie General Commander Gen. Atilla Işık, who was expected to be appointed as the new Land Forces commander following Prime Minister Erdoğan’s opposition to Gen. Iğsız, in a surprising move, requested retirement.

Aug. 6 Friday