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Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 13 2012
11 generals put behind bars as Feb. 28 probe deepens
13 May 2012 / ,
Of the 17 suspects interrogated by prosecutors overseeing the probe
into the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military intervention on Wednesday, 15
were referred to court.
While the court ordered the arrest of 11 suspects early on Thursday,
including retired and active duty generals, four individuals were
released, as the probe into what is popularly known as a postmodern
coup deepens.
Sixteen active duty and retired military officers and one civilian
were detained on Tuesday in the fourth wave of operations in the Feb.
28 probe, which saw police raid their homes across nine provinces.
Prosecutors referred 15 of the 17 suspects to court for arrest on
Wednesday. The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court ruled for the arrest of
11 suspects, including Lt. Gen. Tevfik Ã-zkılıç, Maj. Gens. Berkay
Turgut, Mehmet Faruk Alpaydın and Erdal Å?enel, Brig. Gens. Celalettin
Bacanlı, Mehmet Ali Yıldırım and Metin KeÅ?ap, retired. Lt. Gens. Hakkı
Kılınç and Mustafa Bıyık, and retired Gens. �etin Dizdar and �etin
Saner. Saner was the head of military intelligence at the time of the
1997 coup. He is believed to have threatened Interior Minister Meral
AkÅ?ener with being `impaled' in the event of the generals coming to
power, in order to make the minister `toe the line.'
The suspects are all accused of playing a major role in the Feb. 28
coup, in which the military forced a coalition government led by the
now-defunct conservative Welfare Party (RP) out of power on the
grounds that there was rising religious fundamentalism in the country.
The court ruled for the release of the rest of the suspects, including
retired Staff Col. Erkan Yaykır.
The suspects were simultaneously interrogated by eight of the nine
specially authorized public prosecutors at the Ankara Courthouse.
According to media reports on Thursday, the suspects were asked about
the structure and activities of the controversial West Study Group
(BÃ?G), which was established within the military to categorize
politicians, intellectuals, soldiers and bureaucrats according to
their religious and ideological backgrounds before and after the coup.
May 5, Saturday
Two Turkish journalists, writer Adem Ã-zköse of Turkey's Milat
newspaper and freelance cameraman Hamit CoÅ?kun, who were detained
while covering the Syrian uprising two months ago, are expected to be
released in a few days, one of their colleagues said. Turgut Alp
Boyraz, foreign editor at Milat, said the two telephoned their
families and that an Islamic aid group based in Turkey was involved in
negotiations in Damascus for their release.
May 6, Sunday
Interior Minister Ä°dris Naim Å?ahin said nine security officials were
given administrative punishments for negligence in failing to prevent
the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Responding
to parliamentary questions about Dink's murder, Å?ahin said five
officials were sentenced to forfeit a certain amount of their monthly
salary, three were given motions of censure and one was given a
warning. He said no investigation was allowed for eight officials,
prosecution was decided against for another 31 and two were acquitted
by a court.
President Bashar al-Assad's grip on Syria is getting weaker by the day
and `victory is close,' Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
said in an address to thousands of cheering Syrians who have fled
Assad's brutal crackdown on an anti-regime uprising.
May 7, Monday
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an said Turkey can start discussing a possible
switch to a presidential system while preparing its new constitution.
`As you know we are now in the process of writing a new constitution.
Whether Turkey can adopt a presidential or a semi-presidential system
can be discussed during this process,' ErdoÄ?an said, adding that
Parliament would have the final say on the issue. His remarks came
after Deputy Prime Minister Bekir BozdaÄ? said on the same day that
Turkey should discuss a possible switch to the presidential system.
The first hearing of the new trial merging all existing investigations
into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network which has alleged links
within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the
government, began with 256 suspects standing trial.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was defeated in Sunday's elections by
his socialist rival. Progress is expected during the term of the new
president-elect, François Hollande, in Turkey's stalled talks for full
membership in the EU. However, there is concern that as the 100th
anniversary of the events of 1915, when thousands of Armenians died in
the Ottoman Empire, approaches, there might be new tensions. Armenia
wants the 1915 incidents to be recognized as genocide, and France,
which had adopted a law criminalizing the denial of genocide this year
but which has since been overturned by a high court, backs these
claims. Sarkozy relied on the Armenian issue extensively as material
for his campaign despite a promise that he would not do so. Relative
improvement between the two countries' relations is expected during
Hollande's term.
A commission formed to investigate Israel's actions in intercepting a
flotilla to Gaza in 2010 said civilian authorities should review
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) probes, arguing that the military should
not be the sole authority to examine its own conduct when it is
accused of human rights violations.
May 8, Tuesday
Despite Interpol issuing a red notice for Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice
President Tariq al-Hashemi, currently in Turkey, Ankara is not
expected to arrest Hashemi and return him to Iraq. Lyon-based Interpol
officials said Tuesday's move came at the request of the government in
Baghdad, which has charged Hashemi with terrorism and accused him of
running death squads that targeted government officials, security
forces and Shiite pilgrims. In response to questions about the issue
at a press conference in Italy, Turkey's prime minister said Hashemi
has initiated an appeal against the action taken by Iraqi officials
with Interpol. `We have given him all kinds support on this issue, and
we will continue to do so,' he said.
Turks continue to have uneasy feelings in the German city of Erfurt,
the capital of the eastern state of Thuringia, where all the prime
suspects of the neo-Nazi serial murders of 10 people, including eight
Turks, were born and grew up. `Our people are in a state of fear,'
said Bülent Canpolat, speaking to a Turkish delegation composed of
lawmakers and media professionals at the Center for Migration and
Integration (Das Zentrum für Integration und Migration in German or
ZIM) in Erfurt. `There are still incidents going on here, albeit minor
ones,' he added, referring to racially motivated attacks against
immigrants, mainly Turks, who comprise the largest minority in Germany
with some 3 million people.
A joint committee of experts announced that there was no evidence
suggesting that students who were hospitalized after drinking milk
handed out to students as part of the government's free milk project
were poisoned due to contaminated milk. Some 1,000 students from
schools in several provinces were hospitalized last week after
drinking milk provided via the government's free milk program. The
milk was suspected of being contaminated.
Born of a 1960 coup, Turkey's OYAK army pension fund has become a
potent symbol of military economic power with interests from cement to
car production. Now, as the generals' political influence dwindles
with arrests and coup trials, OYAK is attracting unwanted attention.
OYAK Chairman Yıldırım Türker, a retired lieutenant general, is
sitting in jail awaiting trial on accusations dating back before his
chairmanship to a 1997 `soft coup' that forced an Islamist-led
government from power. The employees of an OYAK security firm stand
charged in connection with another coup plot, and a parliamentary
sub-commission has begun scrutinizing its activities after complaints
from OYAK members.
May 9, Wednesday
Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, for whom
Interpol issued a red notice, said he plans to stay in Turkey until
the ongoing political crisis in Iraq is resolved. The Iraqi vice
president, who is currently in Ä°stanbul, said he did not have direct
talks with Turkish officials following Interpol's red notice, but
rather had `indirect talks.' `Statements by high-level Turkish
officials [against the arrest warrant] confirmed Turkey's support for
me. I am thankful to Turkey on this issue,' Hashemi told a Turkish TV
station on Wednesday. `I hope this political problem [in Iraq] is
settled soon.'
A majority of people in Turkey have voiced support for a number of
ongoing investigations and legal cases in which suspected perpetrators
of coups d'état are being brought to trial and believe that
prosecutors should take action against all actors behind coups and
launch new probes against coup actors who have gone untouched until
now, according to the results of a new monthly opinion poll. A full
67.7 percent said they find the trial of suspected coup actors `right
and necessary' while only 27.1 percent disagreed. The survey was
conducted by Professor Ã-zer Sencar, Professor Ä°hsan DaÄ?ı, Professor
DoÄ?u Ergil, Dr. Sıtkı Yıldız and Dr. Vahap CoÅ?kun for the Ankara-based
MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center.
A new bill submitted to Parliament by the government suggests vital
changes to the organization and structure of the military, including
allowing civilian experts to serve as contracted advisors to the chief
of General Staff on military strategy and affairs. The government
submitted the new bill as part of an ongoing process of civilianizing
the military that has gained momentum in recent years. If the new bill
passes, up to 10 experts on military affairs could be employed at the
request of the chief of General Staff.
May 10, Thursday
Council of State President Hüseyin Karakullukçu voiced support for a
switch to a presidential system in Turkey, saying his court considers
the system to be `democratic' for Turkey's standards, in a speech
delivered at a ceremony held on Thursday to mark the 144th anniversary
of the establishment of the Council of State.
Head of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DÄ°SK) Erol
Ekici has finally spoken out about allegations that the killing of 34
people during a May Day celebration 35 years ago by snipers who opened
fire on crowds gathered in Ä°stanbul's Taksim Square was the result of
warring factions among left-wing groups, saying the discussion was
part of a larger campaign to slander the Turkish left.
Twenty-six people, including nine active duty military officers, were
taken into custody on Thursday as part of an operation launched in the
western province of Ä°zmir against a military espionage gang. The
suspects are accused of involvement in the gang as well as
prostitution, blackmail and espionage. The operation was carried out
by the Ä°zmir Police Department's Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crimes
Unit early in the morning. News sources said the gang is headed by a
25-year-old woman who studies at Pamukkale University in Denizli. The
gang is accused of hiring foreign women as prostitutes for military
officers from whom they obtained military information.
The possibility of invoking the right to military protection of
Turkish borders against threats from Syria under Article 5 of the NATO
charter is still on Turkey's agenda, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson
has said. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Selçuk Ã`nal said during a
press briefing on Thursday that Turkey's expectation from Syria is
that it halt the violence as soon as possible to prevent further
instability.
May 11, Friday
Evidence obtained during searches of locations related to individuals
suspected of being members of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)
terrorist network -- an umbrella organization that encompasses the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- indicates that in
Å?anlıurfa, KCK members had compiled intricate lists of people in most
neighborhoods, indicating the political inclinations of the members of
the households.
Cihan Kırmızıgül, a 22-year-old student at İstanbul's Galatasaray
University, was sentenced to 11 years, three months in prison by an
Ä°stanbul court on Friday on charges of membership in the terrorist
PKK, possession of explosives and causing damage to private buildings.
The president's office, the Prime Ministry and the Turkish Parliament
have all told an Ankara court hearing the Sept. 12, 1980 coup trial
that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) did not provide
them with any intelligence about the military's plans to stage a coup
prior to the Sept. 12 coup. All three institutions sent a response to
the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court, which had asked them whether they
had been informed about coup plans in 1980, telling the court that
there are no documents in their archives showing MÄ°T provided
intelligence regarding coup plans.
May 13 2012
11 generals put behind bars as Feb. 28 probe deepens
13 May 2012 / ,
Of the 17 suspects interrogated by prosecutors overseeing the probe
into the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military intervention on Wednesday, 15
were referred to court.
While the court ordered the arrest of 11 suspects early on Thursday,
including retired and active duty generals, four individuals were
released, as the probe into what is popularly known as a postmodern
coup deepens.
Sixteen active duty and retired military officers and one civilian
were detained on Tuesday in the fourth wave of operations in the Feb.
28 probe, which saw police raid their homes across nine provinces.
Prosecutors referred 15 of the 17 suspects to court for arrest on
Wednesday. The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court ruled for the arrest of
11 suspects, including Lt. Gen. Tevfik Ã-zkılıç, Maj. Gens. Berkay
Turgut, Mehmet Faruk Alpaydın and Erdal Å?enel, Brig. Gens. Celalettin
Bacanlı, Mehmet Ali Yıldırım and Metin KeÅ?ap, retired. Lt. Gens. Hakkı
Kılınç and Mustafa Bıyık, and retired Gens. �etin Dizdar and �etin
Saner. Saner was the head of military intelligence at the time of the
1997 coup. He is believed to have threatened Interior Minister Meral
AkÅ?ener with being `impaled' in the event of the generals coming to
power, in order to make the minister `toe the line.'
The suspects are all accused of playing a major role in the Feb. 28
coup, in which the military forced a coalition government led by the
now-defunct conservative Welfare Party (RP) out of power on the
grounds that there was rising religious fundamentalism in the country.
The court ruled for the release of the rest of the suspects, including
retired Staff Col. Erkan Yaykır.
The suspects were simultaneously interrogated by eight of the nine
specially authorized public prosecutors at the Ankara Courthouse.
According to media reports on Thursday, the suspects were asked about
the structure and activities of the controversial West Study Group
(BÃ?G), which was established within the military to categorize
politicians, intellectuals, soldiers and bureaucrats according to
their religious and ideological backgrounds before and after the coup.
May 5, Saturday
Two Turkish journalists, writer Adem Ã-zköse of Turkey's Milat
newspaper and freelance cameraman Hamit CoÅ?kun, who were detained
while covering the Syrian uprising two months ago, are expected to be
released in a few days, one of their colleagues said. Turgut Alp
Boyraz, foreign editor at Milat, said the two telephoned their
families and that an Islamic aid group based in Turkey was involved in
negotiations in Damascus for their release.
May 6, Sunday
Interior Minister Ä°dris Naim Å?ahin said nine security officials were
given administrative punishments for negligence in failing to prevent
the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Responding
to parliamentary questions about Dink's murder, Å?ahin said five
officials were sentenced to forfeit a certain amount of their monthly
salary, three were given motions of censure and one was given a
warning. He said no investigation was allowed for eight officials,
prosecution was decided against for another 31 and two were acquitted
by a court.
President Bashar al-Assad's grip on Syria is getting weaker by the day
and `victory is close,' Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an
said in an address to thousands of cheering Syrians who have fled
Assad's brutal crackdown on an anti-regime uprising.
May 7, Monday
Prime Minister ErdoÄ?an said Turkey can start discussing a possible
switch to a presidential system while preparing its new constitution.
`As you know we are now in the process of writing a new constitution.
Whether Turkey can adopt a presidential or a semi-presidential system
can be discussed during this process,' ErdoÄ?an said, adding that
Parliament would have the final say on the issue. His remarks came
after Deputy Prime Minister Bekir BozdaÄ? said on the same day that
Turkey should discuss a possible switch to the presidential system.
The first hearing of the new trial merging all existing investigations
into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network which has alleged links
within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the
government, began with 256 suspects standing trial.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was defeated in Sunday's elections by
his socialist rival. Progress is expected during the term of the new
president-elect, François Hollande, in Turkey's stalled talks for full
membership in the EU. However, there is concern that as the 100th
anniversary of the events of 1915, when thousands of Armenians died in
the Ottoman Empire, approaches, there might be new tensions. Armenia
wants the 1915 incidents to be recognized as genocide, and France,
which had adopted a law criminalizing the denial of genocide this year
but which has since been overturned by a high court, backs these
claims. Sarkozy relied on the Armenian issue extensively as material
for his campaign despite a promise that he would not do so. Relative
improvement between the two countries' relations is expected during
Hollande's term.
A commission formed to investigate Israel's actions in intercepting a
flotilla to Gaza in 2010 said civilian authorities should review
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) probes, arguing that the military should
not be the sole authority to examine its own conduct when it is
accused of human rights violations.
May 8, Tuesday
Despite Interpol issuing a red notice for Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice
President Tariq al-Hashemi, currently in Turkey, Ankara is not
expected to arrest Hashemi and return him to Iraq. Lyon-based Interpol
officials said Tuesday's move came at the request of the government in
Baghdad, which has charged Hashemi with terrorism and accused him of
running death squads that targeted government officials, security
forces and Shiite pilgrims. In response to questions about the issue
at a press conference in Italy, Turkey's prime minister said Hashemi
has initiated an appeal against the action taken by Iraqi officials
with Interpol. `We have given him all kinds support on this issue, and
we will continue to do so,' he said.
Turks continue to have uneasy feelings in the German city of Erfurt,
the capital of the eastern state of Thuringia, where all the prime
suspects of the neo-Nazi serial murders of 10 people, including eight
Turks, were born and grew up. `Our people are in a state of fear,'
said Bülent Canpolat, speaking to a Turkish delegation composed of
lawmakers and media professionals at the Center for Migration and
Integration (Das Zentrum für Integration und Migration in German or
ZIM) in Erfurt. `There are still incidents going on here, albeit minor
ones,' he added, referring to racially motivated attacks against
immigrants, mainly Turks, who comprise the largest minority in Germany
with some 3 million people.
A joint committee of experts announced that there was no evidence
suggesting that students who were hospitalized after drinking milk
handed out to students as part of the government's free milk project
were poisoned due to contaminated milk. Some 1,000 students from
schools in several provinces were hospitalized last week after
drinking milk provided via the government's free milk program. The
milk was suspected of being contaminated.
Born of a 1960 coup, Turkey's OYAK army pension fund has become a
potent symbol of military economic power with interests from cement to
car production. Now, as the generals' political influence dwindles
with arrests and coup trials, OYAK is attracting unwanted attention.
OYAK Chairman Yıldırım Türker, a retired lieutenant general, is
sitting in jail awaiting trial on accusations dating back before his
chairmanship to a 1997 `soft coup' that forced an Islamist-led
government from power. The employees of an OYAK security firm stand
charged in connection with another coup plot, and a parliamentary
sub-commission has begun scrutinizing its activities after complaints
from OYAK members.
May 9, Wednesday
Iraq's fugitive Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, for whom
Interpol issued a red notice, said he plans to stay in Turkey until
the ongoing political crisis in Iraq is resolved. The Iraqi vice
president, who is currently in Ä°stanbul, said he did not have direct
talks with Turkish officials following Interpol's red notice, but
rather had `indirect talks.' `Statements by high-level Turkish
officials [against the arrest warrant] confirmed Turkey's support for
me. I am thankful to Turkey on this issue,' Hashemi told a Turkish TV
station on Wednesday. `I hope this political problem [in Iraq] is
settled soon.'
A majority of people in Turkey have voiced support for a number of
ongoing investigations and legal cases in which suspected perpetrators
of coups d'état are being brought to trial and believe that
prosecutors should take action against all actors behind coups and
launch new probes against coup actors who have gone untouched until
now, according to the results of a new monthly opinion poll. A full
67.7 percent said they find the trial of suspected coup actors `right
and necessary' while only 27.1 percent disagreed. The survey was
conducted by Professor Ã-zer Sencar, Professor Ä°hsan DaÄ?ı, Professor
DoÄ?u Ergil, Dr. Sıtkı Yıldız and Dr. Vahap CoÅ?kun for the Ankara-based
MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center.
A new bill submitted to Parliament by the government suggests vital
changes to the organization and structure of the military, including
allowing civilian experts to serve as contracted advisors to the chief
of General Staff on military strategy and affairs. The government
submitted the new bill as part of an ongoing process of civilianizing
the military that has gained momentum in recent years. If the new bill
passes, up to 10 experts on military affairs could be employed at the
request of the chief of General Staff.
May 10, Thursday
Council of State President Hüseyin Karakullukçu voiced support for a
switch to a presidential system in Turkey, saying his court considers
the system to be `democratic' for Turkey's standards, in a speech
delivered at a ceremony held on Thursday to mark the 144th anniversary
of the establishment of the Council of State.
Head of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DÄ°SK) Erol
Ekici has finally spoken out about allegations that the killing of 34
people during a May Day celebration 35 years ago by snipers who opened
fire on crowds gathered in Ä°stanbul's Taksim Square was the result of
warring factions among left-wing groups, saying the discussion was
part of a larger campaign to slander the Turkish left.
Twenty-six people, including nine active duty military officers, were
taken into custody on Thursday as part of an operation launched in the
western province of Ä°zmir against a military espionage gang. The
suspects are accused of involvement in the gang as well as
prostitution, blackmail and espionage. The operation was carried out
by the Ä°zmir Police Department's Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crimes
Unit early in the morning. News sources said the gang is headed by a
25-year-old woman who studies at Pamukkale University in Denizli. The
gang is accused of hiring foreign women as prostitutes for military
officers from whom they obtained military information.
The possibility of invoking the right to military protection of
Turkish borders against threats from Syria under Article 5 of the NATO
charter is still on Turkey's agenda, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson
has said. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Selçuk Ã`nal said during a
press briefing on Thursday that Turkey's expectation from Syria is
that it halt the violence as soon as possible to prevent further
instability.
May 11, Friday
Evidence obtained during searches of locations related to individuals
suspected of being members of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)
terrorist network -- an umbrella organization that encompasses the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- indicates that in
Å?anlıurfa, KCK members had compiled intricate lists of people in most
neighborhoods, indicating the political inclinations of the members of
the households.
Cihan Kırmızıgül, a 22-year-old student at İstanbul's Galatasaray
University, was sentenced to 11 years, three months in prison by an
Ä°stanbul court on Friday on charges of membership in the terrorist
PKK, possession of explosives and causing damage to private buildings.
The president's office, the Prime Ministry and the Turkish Parliament
have all told an Ankara court hearing the Sept. 12, 1980 coup trial
that Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) did not provide
them with any intelligence about the military's plans to stage a coup
prior to the Sept. 12 coup. All three institutions sent a response to
the Ankara 12th High Criminal Court, which had asked them whether they
had been informed about coup plans in 1980, telling the court that
there are no documents in their archives showing MÄ°T provided
intelligence regarding coup plans.