The legislation was approved with the backing of all the opposition parties in Parliament, but parties such as the CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) later claimed they had not been notified about the full scope of the legislative change, accusing the AK Party of “deceiving” them. The CHP's contradictory stance regarding the trial of coup generals seems to have not surprised anyone at all due to its past record of support of coup attempts and preventing efforts at expanding the civilian sphere.Bugün's Nuh Gönültaş says he is not very surprised by Baykal's display of a contradictory stance regarding the trial of coup generals. He notes that calling for their trial on the one hand and opposing legislation that will pave the way for the coup generals' trial on the other is the CHP leader's job. “Being the chairman of the CHP is more difficult than being the leader of the governing party in Turkey. I know no one who can do this job better than Baykal. Do you think it is an easy job for the CHP to oppose coup perpetrators and approve steps taken for to expand the civilian sphere?” asks Gönültaş.
About the CHP's reaction to the legislation in question, Yeni Şafak's Ali Bayramoğlu says the mentality represented by the CHP has taken up the role of defending the military and supports a military and authoritarian Turkey at a time when Turkey is experiencing one of the sharpest periods of change and taking the most concrete steps to expand the civilian sphere in its history. “The situation is very terrible and is deadly serious,” he says. In Bayramoğlu's view, describing the current developments in Turkey as a power struggle would be downplaying the issue. He says the legislation allowing the trial of military staff in civilian courts has shaken the military system, which protects those attempting to stage coups; it has expanded the scope of the civilian judiciary against the military judiciary. “The passage of this legislation is of great importance. Parasites who try to make Turkey miss this opportunity it has seized, soldier journalists and smiling militarists will rapidly go into the trash can of history,” contends Bayramoğlu.
Radikal's İsmet Berkan says he is confused about what exactly the CHP is opposing and whether the CHP, which called for the trial of 1980 coup generals just five days ago, now defends the trial in military courts of generals who attempted to stage coups. “If necessary, military courts could continue to exist on condition that their scope of authority is limited to their profession. When members of the military commit offenses that are described as crimes in the Turkish Penal Code [TCK], they should be tried in civilian and not military courts. This is because there should be a single judiciary in a country, not two,” explains Berkan. In light of this, Berkan calls on the CHP to clarify what it opposes so that it can be possible to comment on its stance.
Star's Ergun Babahan fears the CHP will take the latest amendments to the Constitutional Court and that the court will make a controversial ruling, annulling the legislation just as has been the case with similar amendments in the past.
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