Speaking during his party's parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Baykal also said that if the public desires to see the Sept. 12 coup leaders and other coup plotters called to account, he and his party are ready to give any kind of support. and called the government to try those who led coups. While supporting Baykal's call, analysts have also questioned his sincerity and motives.
Ahmet Kekeç from the Star daily agrees with Baykal's call to confront the Sept. 12 coup but has questions for him. “You say you oppose the Sept. 12 coup. Why then do you not oppose the others? Why do you not say with the same courage and clarity, ‘I also oppose the May 27 [1960 coup], the Feb. 28 [1997 postmodern coup], the April 27 [2007] e-memorandum and all memorandums',” he asks. Stating that he does not believe in Baykal's sincerity in opposing Sept. 12, Kekeç says the fact that Baykal has no problem with the institutions formed by the Sept. 12 coup is a sign of his lack of sincerity. “After all, I agree with you in that Turkey can settle accounts with coups and start settling my accounts with them. [Sept. 12 coup leader] Kenan Evren should be tried. Those who staged the Feb. 28 postmodern coup should be tried. Politicians [such as Baykal] who legitimized Feb. 28 by saying, ‘The military is a significant means of pressure contributing to the formation of civil public opinion,' should be tried,” he adds.
According to Radikal's Murat Yetkin, Baykal has other concerns while calling on the government to temporarily lift Article 15 of the Constitution, which exempts coup leaders from being tried. “Baykal's call seems to have been made by presupposing that the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] would not take such a step in order to avoid being at odds with the military once again [in the aftermath of a recently revealed alleged military action plan to undermine the ruling party],” he says.
Adem Yavuz Arslan from the Bugün daily elaborates on Baykal's remarks, drawing attention to legal obstacles in front of prosecutors who wish to try coup leaders, as Turkey has witnessed attempts to try coup leaders in the past. Recalling Baykal's remarks when he said, “Is there anybody preventing the government from trying coup leaders?” Arslan says: “It is not known whether there is something preventing the government from taking action. But there is something preventing the prosecutors [from taking action].” Recalling a past attempt by former prosecutor Sacit Kayasu, who prepared an indictment against Evren in 2000 that resulted in Kayasu's disbarment by the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK), he says the HSYK is the biggest obstacle to such attempts.
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