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MISSION ACCOMPLISHED WITH COLLATERAL DAMAGE
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 6 2013
MURAT YETKÄ°N
There was little room for a surprise anyway; the Istanbul Specially
Authorized 13th Criminal Court ruled on August 5 for life imprisonment
of 17 people, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's former Chief
of General Staff, retired general Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug, on charges of
attempting to overthrow the government through an illegal organization
called "Ergenekon." Among those who are sentenced for life there are
other retired generals like BaÅ~_bug's Deputy Hasan Igsız, former
Gendarmerie Commander Å~^ener Eruygur and former (Istanbul based)
First Army Commander HurÅ~_it Tolon. And among civilian figures who
get life imprisonment there are political figures like Workers' Party
(Ä°P) leader Dogu Perincek and (former journalist) Yeni Party (YP)
leader Tuncay Ozkan, nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz (who had lead
opening of numerous cases against Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink before his murder in 2007 and Alparslan Arslan the murderer of
Council of State member Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin in 2006.
There are prominent figures who were sentenced to heavy penalties by
the court like journalist Mustafa Balbay (34 years), scholar and writer
Yalcın Kucuk (22 years), former head of Turkey's Supreme Education
Board Kemal Guruz (13 years) and internationally renowned surgeon
Mehmat Haberal (12 years) for participating in the conspiracy against
the Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government.
Haberal was released since he already served a part of his sentence
in the trials which had started in 2008. Haberal had been elected as a
member of parliament on the main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP) list when he was in prison; so he can take his oath and begin
his political career. But Balbay, who had also been elected as a CHP
MP will stay inside. Another CHP deputy, Sinan Aygun, the former
head of the Chamber of Commerce of Ankara, who is currently free,
was sentenced to 13 years by the court.
The ruling of the court added more to controversy during the trials
because of long and extended detention periods and restrictions on
the defense rights of the accusers.
On the other hand it reflects the determination of Erdogan and his
government against any intentions to undermine a democratically elected
administration which had cost three military coups in Turkey in the
Cold War times between 1960 and 1980, plus a psychological operation
in 1997 causing the government of the tine to resign.
In a way, Erdogan accomplished his mission to deter the military
from intervening into politics and anyone who would see a place for
military in Turkish political system. It started with a government
statement on April 28, 2007 against a military statement a day before,
telling military to mind their own business, for the first time in
Turkish politics, then declaring early elections to endorse his power,
opening up the Ergenekon probe the same year and strengthening the
Criminal Code regarding attempts against the political system. The
violations of rights of defenders in Ergenekon case, could be regarded
as collateral damage for this firm deterrence operation and government
added an article to the 2010 referendum which put a Constitutional
Court stage in front of Turkish citizens' application to European
Court of Human Rights, like a preemptive move against the possibility
of most of the cases yesterday would end up in Strasbourg.
The Ergenekon trials indeed changed at least a part of Turkish
society's views on the abnormality of military involvement in politics;
there was the collateral damage which it seems Erdogan was ready to
pay the price for which he might have thought it would be worth.
The ruling of the Court is likely to be a turning point in Turkish
political life.
August/06/2013
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Aug 6 2013
MURAT YETKÄ°N
There was little room for a surprise anyway; the Istanbul Specially
Authorized 13th Criminal Court ruled on August 5 for life imprisonment
of 17 people, including Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's former Chief
of General Staff, retired general Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug, on charges of
attempting to overthrow the government through an illegal organization
called "Ergenekon." Among those who are sentenced for life there are
other retired generals like BaÅ~_bug's Deputy Hasan Igsız, former
Gendarmerie Commander Å~^ener Eruygur and former (Istanbul based)
First Army Commander HurÅ~_it Tolon. And among civilian figures who
get life imprisonment there are political figures like Workers' Party
(Ä°P) leader Dogu Perincek and (former journalist) Yeni Party (YP)
leader Tuncay Ozkan, nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz (who had lead
opening of numerous cases against Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink before his murder in 2007 and Alparslan Arslan the murderer of
Council of State member Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin in 2006.
There are prominent figures who were sentenced to heavy penalties by
the court like journalist Mustafa Balbay (34 years), scholar and writer
Yalcın Kucuk (22 years), former head of Turkey's Supreme Education
Board Kemal Guruz (13 years) and internationally renowned surgeon
Mehmat Haberal (12 years) for participating in the conspiracy against
the Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) government.
Haberal was released since he already served a part of his sentence
in the trials which had started in 2008. Haberal had been elected as a
member of parliament on the main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP) list when he was in prison; so he can take his oath and begin
his political career. But Balbay, who had also been elected as a CHP
MP will stay inside. Another CHP deputy, Sinan Aygun, the former
head of the Chamber of Commerce of Ankara, who is currently free,
was sentenced to 13 years by the court.
The ruling of the court added more to controversy during the trials
because of long and extended detention periods and restrictions on
the defense rights of the accusers.
On the other hand it reflects the determination of Erdogan and his
government against any intentions to undermine a democratically elected
administration which had cost three military coups in Turkey in the
Cold War times between 1960 and 1980, plus a psychological operation
in 1997 causing the government of the tine to resign.
In a way, Erdogan accomplished his mission to deter the military
from intervening into politics and anyone who would see a place for
military in Turkish political system. It started with a government
statement on April 28, 2007 against a military statement a day before,
telling military to mind their own business, for the first time in
Turkish politics, then declaring early elections to endorse his power,
opening up the Ergenekon probe the same year and strengthening the
Criminal Code regarding attempts against the political system. The
violations of rights of defenders in Ergenekon case, could be regarded
as collateral damage for this firm deterrence operation and government
added an article to the 2010 referendum which put a Constitutional
Court stage in front of Turkish citizens' application to European
Court of Human Rights, like a preemptive move against the possibility
of most of the cases yesterday would end up in Strasbourg.
The Ergenekon trials indeed changed at least a part of Turkish
society's views on the abnormality of military involvement in politics;
there was the collateral damage which it seems Erdogan was ready to
pay the price for which he might have thought it would be worth.
The ruling of the Court is likely to be a turning point in Turkish
political life.
August/06/2013