CIVIL SOCIETY DEMANDS TRIAL OF COUP GENERALS

Today’s Zaman
Sept 12 2008
Turkey

Civil society organizations have become more adamant in their demand
that those involved in the Sept. 12, 1980 coup d’état be brought
to trial after being encouraged by an investigation launched into
the Ergenekon terror organization, a shadowy network whose members
with links to the state hierarchy allegedly worked to overthrow the
government and lay the groundwork for a new period of military rule
in Turkey.

Today, on the 28th anniversary of the coup, there will be many
demonstrations throughout Turkey, particularly in Ä°stanbul, Ä°zmir,
Ankara, Diyarbakır and Malatya, organized by various civil society
and rights organizations.

The participants will highlight the fact that the mentality of the
Sept. 12 coup is still alive today — as is proven by the Ergenekon
case — and that those responsible for the coup should be brought to
justice, just as suspects in the Ergenekon case will be.

The first hearing in the case of Ergenekon, which is accused of
orchestrating various murders and attacks with the intention
of creating chaos that would trigger a coup, is scheduled for
October. Among the suspects are three retired senior generals,
including former Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Å~^ener Eruygur,
mafia bosses and public figures such as politicians, journalists and
academics. This is the first time in recent Turkish history that
a top commander — retired or on active duty — is facing charges
within the justice system. The generals of the Sept. 12, 1980 coup,
however, have never been called to account for the atrocities of the
brutal regime they led after granting immunity to themselves through
clauses in the constitution they drafted, which remains in place to
the present day. The Constitution has been amended many times since
then, but the provisions protecting the former generals have been
left unchanged. The one prosecutor, Sacit Kayasu, who campaigned to
change them, was permanently disbarred.

Civil society groups are planning protests around the country to
condemn the coup, with many using the slogan "Ergenekon trial not
good enough, Sept. 12 must be tried, too." The largest demonstration
is expected to be staged in Ä°stanbul on Sunday. The organizers,
which include the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions
(DÄ°SK), the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK),
the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), the Democratic Society Party
(DTP) and the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed (ESP), will urge the
public to meet in Istanbul’s Kadıköy Square to unite in demanding
that the coup generals be brought to justice.

Sinan Tutal, the chairman of the ODP’s Istanbul branch, said the
ongoing Ergenekon investigation and upcoming trial are only a small
part of a phenomenon often described in Turkey as the deep state, a
term used to refer to shadowy relations between the mafia, politicians,
intelligence agencies and security forces, usually governed by
ultranationalist groups that have their own political agenda.

"Democracy will never fully be established in Turkey as long as
the perpetrators of the Sept. 12 coup d’état are not brought to
justice. We will never be able to dismantle the deep state, and the
Sept. 12 Constitution will remain in place," Tutal stated. He also
accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of not
having any real intention of bringing those responsible for the coup
to justice.

Another large demonstration will occur Saturday in Ä°zmir’s
Gundogan Square and Ankara’s Sıhhiye Square, in addition to smaller
demonstrations in the cities of Gaziantep, Malatya and Bursa.

Conscience Tribunal

The coalition known as "70 Million Steps Against Coups," a platform
bringing together many civil society groups, will today hold a
"Conscience Tribunal" in which it will symbolically try the Sept. 12
coup generals and its leader, Gen. Evren, who is living out his
retirement years quietly in the holiday resort town of Marmaris,
where he has taken up painting as a hobby.

The coalition is made up of the Amargi Women’s Cooperative,
the Anti-capitalist Group, the Women’s Rights Association against
Discrimination (AKDER), the Peace Council, the We Are Looking after
Each Other Platform, the Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions
(Hak-Ä°Å~_), the Helsinki Citizens Association (HYD), the We Are
Not Free Yet Platform, the Proletariat Movement Party (EHP), the
Revolutionary Socialist Workers’ Party (DSÄ°P), the Young Civilians,
the Initiative to Say No to Racism and Nationalism, the Global Action
Group (KEG), the Lambda Istanbul LGBTT Solidarity Association, the
Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples
(MAZLUM-DER), the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP), the Political
Horizon Movement and the Confrontation Association.

The initiative, which recently organized other mass protests against
coups and coup attempts in Ä°stanbul and Ankara, in a statement
about the Conscience Tribunal, underlined that the Constitution that
was drafted after the 1980 coup is a constant reminder of all the
violations of the generals involved in the coup.

"Turkey has not yet been able to bring [the perpetrators of]
Sept. 12 to justice, although the mentality of the Sept. 12 regime
will be before a court in the Ergenekon trial," a statement from the
coalition read.

Å~^enol KarakaÅ~_, a spokesperson for the initiative, recalled that
demonstrations against the Sept. 12 coup in the past were largely
ineffective, adding that he hopes this will change this year due to
the ongoing Ergenekon trial.

"Various demonstrations were also organized in the past, but they
mostly were about calling attention to the anguish and pain caused
to victims. Today, the obvious connection between anti-democratic
interventions, gangs and coups is much more visible and out in the
open," KarakaÅ~_ said.

The defendants in the Conscience Tribunal include generals Evren,
Sedat Celasun, Nurettin Ersin, Tahsin Å~^ahinkaya and Nejat Tumer. The
indictment will be read aloud by Engin Cinmen, the lawyer who organized
the "One Minute of Darkness for Light Forever" protest after the
Susurluk affair in 1996, when a car crash revealed questionable
relations between a deputy, a police chief and a mafia boss. The
campaign was Turkey’s first mass protest, with thousands in many
cities turning off their lights for a minute to show their opposition
to deep state formations. Some of the suspects in the Susurluk affair
are currently also suspects in the Ergenekon case.

The opening speech in the mock trial will be delivered by Fethiye
Cetin, a lawyer for the family of the Armenian-Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink, who was allegedly threatened by retired Gen. Veli Kucuk,
a key Ergenekon suspect, shortly before he was shot dead in January
of last year by an ultranationalist teenager. Several intellectuals
who witnessed some of the atrocities of the coup period will relate
their experiences as part of the day’s activities. There will also
be a protest march called "No to Coups."

Other civil society organizations such as the ’78ers Association,
whose members were victims of the 1980 coup, will organize mass
protests in a number of cities during the week. The main theme of
their protests will be Diyarbakır Prison, which, allegedly, was the
scene of human rights violations and torture during the Sept. 12 coup
and which some analysts consider to be the place that gave birth to
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

In addition to the social democratic, democratic, socialist and
left-wing groups, right-wing organizations such as the Grand Unity
Party (BBP) will be among today’s protestors. The BBP Ä°stanbul branch
will organize an evening commemoration ceremony for the Sept. 12
victims and will condemn the coup.

——————————————- ————————————-

Crimes committed by coup generals According to Husnu Ondul, chairman
of the Human Rights Association (Ä°HD) — which was established in
1986 mainly to address serious and systematic violations of human
rights under military rule — it is possible to observe the effects
of the coup in every area of life even today, but the costs of it
were highest in the immediate aftermath.

In Ondul’s words, during the coup "49 people were executed, 171 people
were killed by torture and 650 detained for long periods, most of
whom were subjected to torture. In the military courts 210,000 cases
were opened; 85,000 people faced charges for thought crimes; 1,683,000
people were categorized by the state on the basis of their political
and religious beliefs. Prosecutors demanded capital punishment for
6,353 persons; 348,000 people were banned from traveling abroad;
14,509 civil servants were fired under the State of Emergency Law;
18,000 civil servants, 2,000 judges, 4,000 policemen and 5,000
teachers were forced to resign; 23,667 associations were banned,
while political parties and unions were shut down. More than 30,000
people were forced to leave Turkey. Thirty-nine tons of books were
destroyed, and 937 movies were banned; eight newspapers were closed
down for a period of 195 days." He added that the political, economic
and social effects of the coup are still evident today due to 675
laws currently in force that were passed during the coup regime.

–Boundary_(ID_xKPDpPw3WCHqwr/KT58GWQ)–