A Sledgehammer coup case suspect on Thursday confessed that instead of an official military plan, three action plans regarding the post-coup period were discussed at a seminar in military barracks in 2003, during which preparations were allegedly made for the Sledgehammer coup plot.
Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plot believed to have been devised in 2003 with the aim of unseating the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government through violent acts. According to the Sledgehammer plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through violent acts, among which were bomb attacks on the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul.
One of the Sledgehammer suspects pending trial, Lt. Gen. Tevfik Özkılıç, made his defense at the 75th hearing of the Sledgehammer case at the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court on Thursday. During the hearing one of the jailed suspects in the case, Ayhan Taş, asked Özkılıç whether he had sensed the alleged preparations for a coup during the 2003 seminar, which he participated in as an observer. In response Özkılıç said “no,” adding that instead of discussing the official military plan named the “Egemen Action Plan,” a proposal was made to discuss “private matters,” which included a “martial law plan,” a “rear area security plan” and a “state of emergency security plan.”
Özkılıç also noted that he was opposed to the proposal to discuss other issues on the grounds that the subject of a seminar could not be changed three months prior to the seminar.
After the remarks from Özkılıç, retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, a key suspect in the case who is currently under arrest, took to the stand and asserted that he did not demand that the Egemen action plan be completely removed from the seminar.
In response to a question from retired Gen. Recep Rıfkı Durusoy, a jailed suspect in the case, who asked if the Sledgehammer action plan included any actions against the government, Özkılıç said he did not remember and that he did not know if such actions were included.
Doğan had said in a hearing on June 16, 2011 that only the Egemen action plan was discussed at the 2003 seminar.
Another suspect in the case pending trial, Meryem Kurşun, also delivered her defense at Thursday's hearing. She said: “I applied to the military as a sociologist in 2005. I was informed by the military which websites I should follow [anti-government propaganda websites constructed to disseminate propaganda against the government with the intention of overthrowing it with the military], so I didn't have the ability to choose what news to post on the websites. These websites are not my personal websites; I only did what was done by the rest of the officers serving in the information support department of the military.”
The Sledgehammer plot allegedly sought to undermine the government to lay the groundwork for a coup d'état. The military, which has overthrown three governments since 1960 and pressured a conservative government to step down in 1997, has denied that such a plan existed. All suspects are accused of a failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The Cihan news agency reported on Friday that the head of the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court conducting the trial, Ömer Diken, said that there are still suspects pending trial who did not attend the hearing, although the court ordered district gendarmerie commands to make the suspects available the day before the hearing. In the Sledgehammer case, Article 250 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) says that a person facing charges that fall under the scope of terrorist activities cannot benefit from any immunity, regardless of his or her rank.
Diken went on to say that the court will take necessary measures for the suspects who did not attend the hearing and the district gendarmerie commands that did not bring these suspects to court on the day of their hearing.
A full 171 suspects are under arrest and 41 who are pending trial attended the 75th hearing of the Sledgehammer case on Thursday. However, 78 of the suspects who are under arrest -- including War Academies Commander Gen. Bilgin Balanlı and former military prosecutor Ahmet Zeki Üçok -- did not attend the hearing. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who is currently in jail as a prime suspect in the investigation of Ergenekon and also pending trial as a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, as well as Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is in jail as part of an anti-government Internet campaign probe and is also pending trial as a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, did not attend the hearing on Thursday.
One of the Sledgehammer suspects pending trial, Lt. Gen. Tevfik Özkılıç, made his defense at the 75th hearing of the Sledgehammer case at the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court on Thursday. During the hearing one of the jailed suspects in the case, Ayhan Taş, asked Özkılıç whether he had sensed the alleged preparations for a coup during the 2003 seminar, which he participated in as an observer. In response Özkılıç said “no,” adding that instead of discussing the official military plan named the “Egemen Action Plan,” a proposal was made to discuss “private matters,” which included a “martial law plan,” a “rear area security plan” and a “state of emergency security plan.”
Özkılıç also noted that he was opposed to the proposal to discuss other issues on the grounds that the subject of a seminar could not be changed three months prior to the seminar.
After the remarks from Özkılıç, retired Gen. Çetin Doğan, a key suspect in the case who is currently under arrest, took to the stand and asserted that he did not demand that the Egemen action plan be completely removed from the seminar.
In response to a question from retired Gen. Recep Rıfkı Durusoy, a jailed suspect in the case, who asked if the Sledgehammer action plan included any actions against the government, Özkılıç said he did not remember and that he did not know if such actions were included.
Doğan had said in a hearing on June 16, 2011 that only the Egemen action plan was discussed at the 2003 seminar.
Another suspect in the case pending trial, Meryem Kurşun, also delivered her defense at Thursday's hearing. She said: “I applied to the military as a sociologist in 2005. I was informed by the military which websites I should follow [anti-government propaganda websites constructed to disseminate propaganda against the government with the intention of overthrowing it with the military], so I didn't have the ability to choose what news to post on the websites. These websites are not my personal websites; I only did what was done by the rest of the officers serving in the information support department of the military.”
The Sledgehammer plot allegedly sought to undermine the government to lay the groundwork for a coup d'état. The military, which has overthrown three governments since 1960 and pressured a conservative government to step down in 1997, has denied that such a plan existed. All suspects are accused of a failed attempt to destroy Parliament and overthrow the government. Such a charge calls for a jail sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The Cihan news agency reported on Friday that the head of the İstanbul 10th High Criminal Court conducting the trial, Ömer Diken, said that there are still suspects pending trial who did not attend the hearing, although the court ordered district gendarmerie commands to make the suspects available the day before the hearing. In the Sledgehammer case, Article 250 of the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) says that a person facing charges that fall under the scope of terrorist activities cannot benefit from any immunity, regardless of his or her rank.
Diken went on to say that the court will take necessary measures for the suspects who did not attend the hearing and the district gendarmerie commands that did not bring these suspects to court on the day of their hearing.
A full 171 suspects are under arrest and 41 who are pending trial attended the 75th hearing of the Sledgehammer case on Thursday. However, 78 of the suspects who are under arrest -- including War Academies Commander Gen. Bilgin Balanlı and former military prosecutor Ahmet Zeki Üçok -- did not attend the hearing. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who is currently in jail as a prime suspect in the investigation of Ergenekon and also pending trial as a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, as well as Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is in jail as part of an anti-government Internet campaign probe and is also pending trial as a suspect in the Sledgehammer case, did not attend the hearing on Thursday.
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