September 3rd, 2013

www.dw.de

Revenge or democracy? Turkeys

divisive trial
By: Ayhan Simsek

Some 100 senior Turkish army officers are on trial for their alleged role in a
1997 coup. Critics call it revenge by the Islamic government against the
secular army. Others say it is Turkish democracy at work.
Turkey's former military chief and other high-ranking officers began
testifying in court on Monday (02.09.) about their alleged role in ousting the
country's Islamist-led coalition government in 1997.
The trial has been hailed by the Islamic-conservative AKP government of
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a manifestation of Turkey's
transformation to democracy."
Turkey is going through normalization, said the ruling Justice and
Development Party's (AKP) vice president, Ahmet Aydin. Turkey has been
transformed into a new system, a system of the rule of law and democracy,
he stated.
But the politically divisive case has sparked widespread criticism among
Turkey's secular opposition, which distrusts Erdogan's policies and claims the
AKP is aiming to turn the country into an Islamist state.
This trial is absurd, Kamer Genc, a senior deputy from the main opposition
Republican People's Party (CHP), wrote on his twitter account as he was
following the case in the courtroom. The AKP government regards measures
taken against Islamist reactionaries as crimes, he stressed. On February
28, 1997, Turkey's National Security Council decided on legitimate measures
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September 3rd, 2013

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for threats against the secular character of our state, Genc argued. No
Turkish court can have a trial based on such allegations, he claimed.
The high-profile case concerns events which have become known as the
"postmodern coup" or the "February 28 process," in Turkey. Unlike the
military coups of 1960, 1971 or 1980, the generals did not seize power or
suspend the constitutional order, but orchestrated behind the scenes a
political pressure campaign to force the resignation of the coalition
government, led by the Islamist politician Necmettin Erbakan.
'Setback for democracy'
Deniz Zeyrek, a political analyst and Ankara bureau chief of the liberal daily,
Radikal, says that the Turkish military's last major intervention in 1997 had
targeted political Islam, but it was also a setback for Turkish democracy.
I have personally witnessed the days of this military intervention as a
journalist. Not only Islamists, but also liberals and democrats were the
political victims of this process, he told DW.
The post-modern coup, as it was labeled by one of the generals, increased
the military's role in politics, limited freedoms in political life and imposed
several restrictions on the media.
According to Zeyrek, a specialist on civil-military relations, a fair trial of this
post-modern

coup

may

contribute

to

Turkey's

democratization

and

normalization in politics.
I have some concerns, but still I am hopeful that the trial can be another
step towards Turkey's democratization, he said. But this can only be
achieved if the trial is free from a revenge mentality, he stressed.
Unfortunately, this revenge mentality was present in similar cases, like
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September 3rd, 2013

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Ergenekon and Sledgehammer, and we see it casting a worrisome shadow

over the current trial.
Sensational court cases
Since 2008, Turkey has witnessed sensational probes and court cases
against both active and retired army officials, opposition politicians,
academics and journalists.
More than 250 retired officers, including former army chief Ilker Basbug, was
jailed last month over an alleged Ergenekon coup plot.
In September last year, more than 300 military officers were sentenced to
jail for the alleged Sledgehammer coup plot to overthrow the AKP
government. All of the defendants deny the allegations and have appealed to
the Turkish Supreme Court.
Both the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer cases were marred by procedural
flaws and long pre-trial detention periods. Critics argue that these court
cases are politically motivated and aimed at curbing the power of the oncesupreme Turkish military.
A recent poll by Gezici Arastirma shows that 53. 8 percent of the Turkish
people believe that the principles of a fair trial were not respected during the
Ergenekon trial.

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