Gen. Iğsız answered a reporter's questions as he attended the US Independence Day reception in Ankara. "I'm not going to add anything to what our chief of general staff has already said, but of course we still stand by him," said Gen. Iğsız. He also mentioned the need for the rule of law in the country. "It's not just about the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK]. Look at the bigger picture. Everyone might need the law one day," he said.
Meanwhile, reporters asked the opinion of main opposition Republican People's Party leader Deniz Baykal on Çiçek's release. Baykal said the release decision had alleviated tension but it was too early to judge whether tension had ended completely. It has been revealed that Çiçek, who was kept in prison for about 18 hours and released afterwards due to lack of evidence, was not only accused of "being a member of an organization" but also of a "military coup attempt."
When he was asked why he used a different signature in his testimony at the Military Prosecutor's Office, Çiçek said he had been using the signature for three years. Çiçek claimed that the signature on the copied document was taken from another document he had signed 10 years ago.
 No more press briefings from the TSK Metin Gürak, chief of the Communication Department of the General Staff, said the General Staff's weekly press briefings would be in recess until the beginning of August. In the weekly press conference yesterday, Gürak said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had neutralized 16 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists in operations conducted since June 12 and that a significant amount of weapons, bombs and explosive materials had been seized in the operations waged against the terrorist organization. Talking about the bomb attack that took place in Kirkuk in Iraq on June 20, Gürak said the Turkish General Staff had sent a military plane to the scene of the incident in order to bring wounded Iraqis to Turkey. Commenting on the activities carried out by Turkish military units deployed near the Somali coast, Gürak said units from the Turkish Naval Forces had contributed to the rescue of a Korean ship from pirates recently, adding that the South Korean chief of general staff had sent a letter of thanks to his Turkish counterpart, Gen. İlker Başbuğ, for Turkey's efforts. Gürak also said that the TSK had cooperated with NATO-member states and allied countries on military training and signed cooperation agreements with 43 countries so far. |
There are also unconfirmed reports that Çiçek, who has been expecting to become an admiral, was appointed to another office from his current post at the military as the head of the 3rd Support Branch Directorate.
He was released pending trial on Wednesday afternoon by the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ had said at a press conference last week that an “asymmetric psychological war” was being waged against the TSK, stating that the widely discussed document was nothing more than just a "piece of paper.”
He had also urged a civilian court to find out who was behind the document outlining the plot, which he said was aimed at discrediting the image of the military. "We believe that this piece of paper was prepared with the aim of damaging and defaming the TSK. Now it lies on the shoulders of the state's related judicial bodies to find out by whom and for what reason it was prepared,” said an angry Başbuğ at the June 26 press conference.
He was referring to the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, which was first published by the Taraf daily earlier this month. The alleged action plan bears the signature of Çiçek and describes a plot to bring down the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen movement through framing individuals by planting weapons in their homes and manufacturing false news stories.
The military prosecutor last week announced the findings of an investigation initiated into the document and said it had not been prepared inside the General Staff headquarters and that no further action was necessary.
Gen. Başbuğ had also offered a guarantee that the TSK would not allow any of its personnel who violate “democracy and the rule of law” to remain within its ranks. Başbuğ said another investigation could be initiated by the Military Prosecutor's Office if further evidence of the authenticity of the document was discovered. The military chief's statement, however, was far from satisfying the questions of many.
Çiçek was arrested this week days after Parliament, controlled by the AK Party, passed a bill that paves the way for military personnel suspected of involvement in coups to be tried in civilian courts for the first time.
Now observers are worrying about possible pressure from the military on the judiciary and politics because at the National Security Council (MGK) meeting on June 30, they decided to form a commission to evaluate this historic bill, which still has to be approved by the president to become law. However, the CHP announced that it will challenge the law in the Constitutional Court if the president approves it.
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