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Üskül: Turkish Secularist Military Must Leave Politics With CMK Amendment
8 July 2009
A recent amendment to the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK) that paves the way for the trial of military personnel in civilian courts will keep the military away from politics, said parliamentary Human Rights Committee head Zafer Üskül. Stating that the amendment does not contradict the Constitution, Üskül said he expects President Abdullah Gül to approve the legislation. Referring to previous European Court of Human Rights decisions, Üskül said: “If there is a concern that the amendment will involve politics in the military, politics is currently involved in the military. With this amendment, on the contrary, military will stay out of politics.” Stating that he finds the amendment significant for greater democratization and civilization in Turkey, he said the amendment aims to block coup supporters. “With this amendment the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] will engage in their own duties. As long as they concern themselves with their own duties, we will have a more powerful military. Opposing this amendment means distrust of the judiciary. There cannot be an independent judiciary within a chain of command,” said Üskül. Noting that some say there are military courts in other countries, Üskül said those are simply disciplinary courts. “No one wants to abolish the disciplinary courts of the military,” he said. Üskül also claimed that the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which opposes the amendment, is trying to appeal to fringe circles with this attitude. Former intelligence head questioned over plot against PM Former National Intelligence Organization (MIT) head Nuri Gündes gave testimony last week to the prosecutor of the Ergenekon investigation -- the query into an illegal network suspected of having plans to overthrow the government -- about assassination plans against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Habertürk daily. Ergenekon prosecutors questioned Gündes after a secret witness testified that Gündes sent him to Gen. Çevik Bir to discuss the matter. The secret witness said Gen. Bir had asked him if he could launch a missile. Habertürk wrote that Ergenekon prosecutors asked Gündes about the alleged assassination plans against Erdogan and who was behind it. Other questions asked related to the details of the missile attack plans. Gen. Bir, who played a major role in the Feb. 28, 1997 process, which was termed a “soft coup,” and Gündes, both of whose names appear on several documents seized during the probe into Ergenekon, went to a courthouse in the Levent district of Istanbul on June 25 to testify to prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. One of the seized documents, titled “Announcing the Çevik Bir-Erol Özkasnak team's coup attempts serving the interests of the United States,” detailed a coup attempt in 1998 that was prevented by then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Hüseyin Hakki Karadayi. Gündes's telephones have been legally wiretapped since April 24 under the Ergenekon investigation. Habertürk detailed several of Gündes's phone conversations, in which Gündes allegedly asked when a new government would be formed. The other person on the line, referred to as “Erman,” allegedly says in the conversation, “You asked us to topple the government, we did. You asked us to form a new Cabinet, we did. What else do you want?” Ergenekon prosecutors asked Gündes about his relationships with various people he spoke with on the phone, according to Habertürk.
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