Untouchable generals’ turn to testify in Ergenekon investigation

Prosecutors conducting an investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow the government, called former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman, former Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek, all of whom retired in 2004, to testify as part of the ongoing probe. The military, which has ousted four governments in the past 50 years, had been seen as virtually untouchable, and the appearance of high-ranking officers in a civilian court would have been unthinkable only a few years ago.

The ex-army chiefs were released after 10 hours of questioning by prosecutors over what they knew about coup plans nicknamed Moonlight, Blonde Girl and the Glove, all mentioned in a journal kept by Örnek. In April 2007, weekly newsmagazine Nokta published excerpts from a journal it said belonged to Örnek, which contained details of coup attempts dating back to 2004. An investigation was launched following the allegation -- not into Örnek and his coup plans but into Nokta Editor-in-Chief Alper Görmüş. The weekly newsmagazine was shut down several weeks after a police raid on their office. However, the journal was included in the second indictment in the Ergenekon trial in 2009 after a technical examination of the excerpts published by Nokta confirmed that they were authentic.

During his interrogation, Örnek denied possession of the journal. Similarly, Yalman and Fırtına refuted the charges.

İstanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı said after the testimony that the retired army officers were treated as suspects. “The questioning focused on the diaries, and there were other questions as well. We interviewed them as suspects in relation to the diaries,” he noted. Çolakkadı also said the investigation into the coup journal was ongoing. It was not clear whether prosecutors questioned the generals on a journal kept by Cumhuriyet daily writer Mustafa Balbay, who is also a jailed defendant in the Ergenekon trial. Yalman’s name frequently appears in Balbay’s entries. According to Örnek’s journal, the retired general recorded every detail about the plan by Yalman, Fırtına and Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Şener Eruygur -- who today stands as a suspect in the Ergenekon trial -- to stage a coup they termed Blonde Girl in 2004 when they were still in the military but gave up due to the unwillingness of some higher-ranking officers, the US attitude at the time and the democratic stance of Hilmi Özkök, the then-chief of general staff. Örnek’s journal suggested that Eruygur then planned a coup by himself that he called Moonlight.

Earlier, former Chief of General Staff Gen. Özkök testified as a witness in the investigation. The interrogation of ex-army chiefs by civilian prosecutors was met with high applause from most observers, including politicians, jurists and journalists. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç stressed that no one has the privilege to commit a crime in Turkey. “No matter what his rank or duty is, everyone is called to account in this country. This is right. We should be in a position to be called to account [for our actions at] any time,” he noted.

Mete Göktürk, a former chief prosecutor of the now-dissolved State Security Court (DGM), said being a commander does not protect one from being tried for alleged crimes. “Laws are equally valid for every citizen. Their commander status is not an obstacle before their trial. Even prime ministers have been tried in Turkey,” he noted.

Nazlı Ilıcak, a Sabah daily columnist, remarked that calling members of the military to account for their actions was unimaginable in the past. “If they were not commanders, they would have been called to testify a long time ago. … They would have been brought to testify under the force of police if they had refused to go to testify on their own,” she said.

According to Radikal columnist Oral Çalışlar, the interrogation of generals showed that Turkey has stepped into a new era, saying: “Turkey’s wounded democracy is often mentioned when discussing Turkey. Justice is working now. If the [Ergenekon] trial is completed successfully, those who resort to a military coup will be afraid.” Deniz Baykal, the chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said everyone is accountable for their actions in Turkey. “Everyone is obliged to account for their actions. No one can be offered special protection. Serious claims have been voiced. I believe, as a principle, that such an interrogation is pretty natural,” he remarked.

Excerpts from Örnek’s journal

Below you may find excerpts from Örnek’s journal about the coup plans within the armed forces.

“... Upon the suggestion of Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Şener Eruygur, we went to the social facilities of the gendarmerie. ... We decided to form an action plan on our own. We were first going to take control of the media, so I was going to invite M.Ö. for that purpose. We were going to keep in contact with rectors and arrange for students to engage in demonstrations. We were going to act in unison with unions. We were going to get posters hung in the streets. We were going to contact associations and incite them against the government. We were going to do all of this across the country, and it would be known as Sarıkız [Blonde Girl].

“...They all gathered at the headquarters of the gendarmerie, and Gen. Eruygur showed them the preparations I had been shown on Tuesday and had them listen to a number of voice recordings that belong to some high-ranking government officials. Most of them were advisors to the AK Party, and in the recordings they share their ideas on how they are planning to handle the Cyprus problem. At the end of the briefing, the commander of the Air Forces [Gen. İbrahim Fırtına] and the commander of the Gendarmerie Forces [Gen. Eruygur] started pressing for a revolution on March 10.

“... We gathered in my house with the commanders of the air force, the navy, the army and the gendarmerie forces at 2 p.m. … The second topic again turned out to be the same one, ‘We should topple these fellows,’ was what we discussed. Şener and the air guy [Gen. Fırtına] are pressing too much for this. Şener can’t get it out of his mind; he repeats the same thing every two words. So does the air guy. If we don’t want to give away Cyprus, our deadline is April 9, 2004. Whatever we must do, we should do before that.”

Erdoğan, Baykal wrangle over ‘psychological warfare’

PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Baykal of attempting to influence the judiciary in the wake of the leader’s remarks over an “asymmetric psychological” warfare against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Erdoğan was briefed about ongoing asymmetric psychological warfare conducted against the armed forces by members of the army attending the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) on Saturday. The army members complained that some press organs were working to undermine the image of the armed forces through biased reports.

Baykal spoke to reporters on Saturday and blamed the AK Party government of being a party involved in the warfare. “I have no doubt that the government is a party in the asymmetric psychological warfare. Such warfare cannot be conducted without the protection of the government. It would be unwise to think about the contrary,” he said.

Erdoğan responded harshly to Baykal’s accusations and said the CHP leader was interfering in the judiciary. “This is a legal process being handled by the judiciary. ” the Erdoğan stated.

Civilian groups lend support to Ergenekon trial with ironic protest A group of protestors affiliated with a coalition known as “70 Million Steps Against Coups” and Young Civilians gathered in front of the İstanbul Beşiktaş Courthouse on Saturday as the ex-army chiefs were being questioned by Ergenekon prosecutors. The group carried banners that read “Remove İlker Başbuğ [chief of general staff] from office,” and chanted slogans against coup plans by the armed forces. Referring to Örnek’s journal, a spokesperson for the group read a press statement that said: “Dear journal, we read you one day, and our lives changed. We don’t know whether you are aware, but nothing was the same after you were discovered. If a similar journal had been discovered 50 years ago, [former Prime Minister Adnan] Menderes would not have been executed. If a similar journal had been discovered 40 years ago, [political activist] Deniz Gezmiş would not have been executed. If a similar journal had been discovered 30 years ago, 17-year-old Erdal Eren would not have been executed.” The group expressed their gratitude for the discovery of Örnek’s journal and said the discovery prevented the killings of dozens of innocent people.