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No, Mr. Evren, a bullet does not solve anything!
Zaman
30 July 2010, Friday
BÃ`LENT KENEÅ? [email protected] Columnists
Ex-president and former Chief of General Staff Gen. Kenan Evren, one
of the masterminds behind the military coup of Sept. 12, 1980,
recently explained what he will do if the constitutional amendment
package including the abolishment of provisional Article 15 of the
Constitution is approved in the referendum, eventually allowing the
subversive generals to be tried.
As told by Rahmi Turan of the Hürriyet newspaper in his column, Evren
told his relatives in Yalıkavak, Bodrum, several days ago what he had
told then Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief ErtuÄ?rul Ã-zkök almost a year ago.
`I cannot accept such a situation. A bullet in my gun is enough to
finish everything off. Only a bullet! Boom! I will handle my business
on my own. I will not give them the pleasure of trying me. History
will judge us all,' he said.
Speaking to Ã-zkök on June 26, 2009, Evren, who had also served as
president after the coup, had demanded that a referendum should be
held on his trial, and he would commit suicide before being tried if
the referendum produces a `yes.' `Do you want me to be tried? Go and
ask the people. Hold a referendum. Ask, `Should Evren Pasha be tried?'
If the people say, `Yes, he should be tried,' then I promise everyone,
and the nation is my witness, that I will not leave this job to the
court. I will commit suicide. [¦] Yes, let me say it clearly once
again: I will commit suicide because I cannot live with that stain,'
he had said.
While Evren may regard being tried as a `stain' on his `honor,' let us
see to what extent he was respectful toward the honor, dignity and
right to life of other people. These figures may be part of
statistics, but they are actually not. They are the lives terminated
one by one at the hands of the subversive generals and the ensuing
trauma experienced by millions of people who are relatives of the
victims. Therefore, please regard the following figures as
representative of the people whose lives were either terminated or
darkened.
The inventory of the sins committed by Evren -- who had professed that
they had tried to strike a balance between two groups by hanging equal
numbers of leftists and rightists, irrespectively of their guilt or
innocence -- and his cronies is hard to bear: After the coup,
1,683,000 people were categorized according to their ideological
views; 650,000 people were detained; 230,000 people were tried;
prosecutors sought the death penalty for 7,000 people; 517 people were
sentenced to death; 50 were executed -- 26 on political charges, 23 on
criminal charges, and one for being a militant of the Armenian Secret
Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).
Only Parliament could halt the processing of the dossiers of 259 whose
execution was sought by the military rule. A total of 98,404 people
were tried on charges of membership in illegal organizations; 388,000
people were denied the right to own a passport; 30,000 people were
laid off on accusations of being undesirable; 14,000 people were
denaturalized; and 30,000 people fled to foreign countries as
political refugees. Three hundred people were suspiciously killed
during this period; 171 were documented fatalities of torture; 937
films were banned; 230,677 associations were prohibited from
operating; 3,854 teachers, 120 university lecturers and 47 judges were
dismissed. Prosecutors sought 4,000 years in prison in total for 400
journalists. They were sentenced to 3,315 years and six months in
prison. Thirty-one journalists were jailed; three journalists were
killed by firearms; 299 prison inmates died of unfavorable prison
conditions and ill-treatment; 14 people died in hunger strikes
launched in protest of torture and ill-treatment; 16 people were
reportedly killed as they fled from `law enforcement'; 95 people were
killed in armed clashes; 73 people who suspiciously died in prison
were given medical reports certifying they died a natural death; 43
people were reported to have committed suicide. And the list goes on.
Now, Mr. Evren, tell me, will a single bullet be sufficient to clear
so many crimes or, to put it in your own terms, `solve' them?
There is more. I have not even mentioned the offense of causing the
deaths of thousands of young people in clashes between leftist and
rightist groups, which were arranged to pave the way for the military
coup of Sept. 12, 1980 just like more recent conspiracies such as the
Sledgehammer (Balyoz) coup plan, the Cage (Kafes) action plan, the
anti-reactionaryism action plan and many more. No, Mr. Evren, you are
wrong. One bullet cannot compensate for so many crimes, offenses,
sins, murders, tortures, sufferings and victimizations. Unfortunately,
there is no way to make up for such nefarious and inhuman practices.
Yet, we may perhaps discuss some methods which may give some comfort
to the poor people of this country who long for democracy and the rule
of law. Of course, it is up to retired Gen. Evren to make up his mind
about committing suicide. But since I cannot bear the death of any
person, I prefer his being tried at the court and facing the
accusations about the coup. I would love to see the court punish him
in the heaviest way possible. We don't have to implement this penalty.
No one will be satisfied by seeing a 90-year-old man serve his prison
term.
But only trying Evren on coup charges should not be enough. All
people, dead or alive, who are responsible for the e-memorandum of
April 27, 2007, the postmodern military coup of Feb. 28, 1997, the
military coup of Sept. 12, 1980, the memorandum of March 12, 1970 and
the bloody military coup of May 27, 1960 must be tried and penalized
for the inhuman, antidemocratic and unlawful offenses. Natural death
or suicide cannot be a way to get rid of the blame of the nefarious
offenses committed against this nation.
In short, these terrible offenses committed against the Turkish nation
and democracy must be tried and punished, and the results of these
trials must be told in history textbooks. In this way we must make
sure that military officers who dream of coups know that they will be
damned in the eyes not only of the current generations but also of the
future ones. To the list of who will be tried in reality or
symbolically, you can add those who were responsible for the incidents
of Sept. 6-7, 1955 against non-Muslim minorities in Ä°stanbul, the 1937
Dersim massacre and the suffering that occurred during the forced
deportation of Armenians in 1915. You can be assured that these trials
will certainly be held some day, if not today.
From: A. Papazian
Zaman
30 July 2010, Friday
BÃ`LENT KENEÅ? [email protected] Columnists
Ex-president and former Chief of General Staff Gen. Kenan Evren, one
of the masterminds behind the military coup of Sept. 12, 1980,
recently explained what he will do if the constitutional amendment
package including the abolishment of provisional Article 15 of the
Constitution is approved in the referendum, eventually allowing the
subversive generals to be tried.
As told by Rahmi Turan of the Hürriyet newspaper in his column, Evren
told his relatives in Yalıkavak, Bodrum, several days ago what he had
told then Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief ErtuÄ?rul Ã-zkök almost a year ago.
`I cannot accept such a situation. A bullet in my gun is enough to
finish everything off. Only a bullet! Boom! I will handle my business
on my own. I will not give them the pleasure of trying me. History
will judge us all,' he said.
Speaking to Ã-zkök on June 26, 2009, Evren, who had also served as
president after the coup, had demanded that a referendum should be
held on his trial, and he would commit suicide before being tried if
the referendum produces a `yes.' `Do you want me to be tried? Go and
ask the people. Hold a referendum. Ask, `Should Evren Pasha be tried?'
If the people say, `Yes, he should be tried,' then I promise everyone,
and the nation is my witness, that I will not leave this job to the
court. I will commit suicide. [¦] Yes, let me say it clearly once
again: I will commit suicide because I cannot live with that stain,'
he had said.
While Evren may regard being tried as a `stain' on his `honor,' let us
see to what extent he was respectful toward the honor, dignity and
right to life of other people. These figures may be part of
statistics, but they are actually not. They are the lives terminated
one by one at the hands of the subversive generals and the ensuing
trauma experienced by millions of people who are relatives of the
victims. Therefore, please regard the following figures as
representative of the people whose lives were either terminated or
darkened.
The inventory of the sins committed by Evren -- who had professed that
they had tried to strike a balance between two groups by hanging equal
numbers of leftists and rightists, irrespectively of their guilt or
innocence -- and his cronies is hard to bear: After the coup,
1,683,000 people were categorized according to their ideological
views; 650,000 people were detained; 230,000 people were tried;
prosecutors sought the death penalty for 7,000 people; 517 people were
sentenced to death; 50 were executed -- 26 on political charges, 23 on
criminal charges, and one for being a militant of the Armenian Secret
Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).
Only Parliament could halt the processing of the dossiers of 259 whose
execution was sought by the military rule. A total of 98,404 people
were tried on charges of membership in illegal organizations; 388,000
people were denied the right to own a passport; 30,000 people were
laid off on accusations of being undesirable; 14,000 people were
denaturalized; and 30,000 people fled to foreign countries as
political refugees. Three hundred people were suspiciously killed
during this period; 171 were documented fatalities of torture; 937
films were banned; 230,677 associations were prohibited from
operating; 3,854 teachers, 120 university lecturers and 47 judges were
dismissed. Prosecutors sought 4,000 years in prison in total for 400
journalists. They were sentenced to 3,315 years and six months in
prison. Thirty-one journalists were jailed; three journalists were
killed by firearms; 299 prison inmates died of unfavorable prison
conditions and ill-treatment; 14 people died in hunger strikes
launched in protest of torture and ill-treatment; 16 people were
reportedly killed as they fled from `law enforcement'; 95 people were
killed in armed clashes; 73 people who suspiciously died in prison
were given medical reports certifying they died a natural death; 43
people were reported to have committed suicide. And the list goes on.
Now, Mr. Evren, tell me, will a single bullet be sufficient to clear
so many crimes or, to put it in your own terms, `solve' them?
There is more. I have not even mentioned the offense of causing the
deaths of thousands of young people in clashes between leftist and
rightist groups, which were arranged to pave the way for the military
coup of Sept. 12, 1980 just like more recent conspiracies such as the
Sledgehammer (Balyoz) coup plan, the Cage (Kafes) action plan, the
anti-reactionaryism action plan and many more. No, Mr. Evren, you are
wrong. One bullet cannot compensate for so many crimes, offenses,
sins, murders, tortures, sufferings and victimizations. Unfortunately,
there is no way to make up for such nefarious and inhuman practices.
Yet, we may perhaps discuss some methods which may give some comfort
to the poor people of this country who long for democracy and the rule
of law. Of course, it is up to retired Gen. Evren to make up his mind
about committing suicide. But since I cannot bear the death of any
person, I prefer his being tried at the court and facing the
accusations about the coup. I would love to see the court punish him
in the heaviest way possible. We don't have to implement this penalty.
No one will be satisfied by seeing a 90-year-old man serve his prison
term.
But only trying Evren on coup charges should not be enough. All
people, dead or alive, who are responsible for the e-memorandum of
April 27, 2007, the postmodern military coup of Feb. 28, 1997, the
military coup of Sept. 12, 1980, the memorandum of March 12, 1970 and
the bloody military coup of May 27, 1960 must be tried and penalized
for the inhuman, antidemocratic and unlawful offenses. Natural death
or suicide cannot be a way to get rid of the blame of the nefarious
offenses committed against this nation.
In short, these terrible offenses committed against the Turkish nation
and democracy must be tried and punished, and the results of these
trials must be told in history textbooks. In this way we must make
sure that military officers who dream of coups know that they will be
damned in the eyes not only of the current generations but also of the
future ones. To the list of who will be tried in reality or
symbolically, you can add those who were responsible for the incidents
of Sept. 6-7, 1955 against non-Muslim minorities in Ä°stanbul, the 1937
Dersim massacre and the suffering that occurred during the forced
deportation of Armenians in 1915. You can be assured that these trials
will certainly be held some day, if not today.
From: A. Papazian