Iran Review

Elias Vahedi
Turkey and Caucasus Affairs Analyst

Following the arrest of 49 Turkish servicemen including several high-ranking generals (former commanders of the air force, the navy and present commander of the First Battalion), the military coup d’etat (codenamed Balyoz meaning Hammer) launched against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, was unveiled.

According to the available documents which amount to over 5000 papers and a number of audio tapes, the coup was led by General Çetin Doğan, commander of the First Battalion, who was accompanied by other commanders.

Preliminary surveys show that the coup plan, codenamed Balyoz (Hammer) Security Operations, was launched in late 2002 (a few months after the moderate Islamists came to power) and was developed in subsequent years. This plan, given its sensitivity to the details, was more precise and complete than previous military coups.

The plan had envisaged more threatening flights over disputed waters with Greece in order to provoke the Greek military forces to attack Turkey. If their attempt was to fail, they were expected to blow up one of the Turkish fighters themselves so the country would be placed under war circumstances. As a result, security patrol, control and inspection would be started in different cities and with the flight of combat aircraft at low altitude in Ankara, especially around the National Assembly, parliamentary representatives would be forced to declare an emergency situation and subsequently declare martial law in the country.

Anti-government demonstrations of young military forces in plainclothes, counterfeit attacks of people dressed as Islamists on the military museum and military bases and bombing of Fateh and Bayezid mosques in Istanbul after the Friday congregational prayers were among the most important military-security operations. Furthermore, massive propaganda that would be launched by the media, anti-government political figures, academics, civic institutions and capitalists would induce incapability of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government in administering the country and controlling the situation.

Following the disclosure of the coup d’etat and its report which appeared in the daily Taraf, security and judicial authorities entered the scene and widespread arrests were made. Among those arrested there are a number of military men who are presently serving the army but most of those arrested are retired senior generals.

After the incident, the Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), General İlker Başbuğ, held meetings with the prime minister, one in the presence of the president and two in private. However, some news sources speak of a strong tension between head of the government and the army commander. But, the statement released by the presidential palace convinced people that issues would be settled within legal framework and recommended all to feel responsible in not weakening legal institutions. The statement removed concerns in this regard to a great extent and showed that the executive and the army do not intend to open up their fighting.

Although a detailed report is not yet available on the subjects raised in the talks
between the highest military authority and the government, however it seems that under the status quo the Turkish army could at least relieve the alleged accusations against it. Army generals are unhappy with interference of civilians in their affairs and for not letting the army discover the coup d’etats and put the criminals on trial itself.

The chief of the joint staff of the army is now experiencing a severe bottleneck under which he could not defend the institution under his command. The Turkish government has never been brought under the supervision and evaluation of legal institutions and violations that are unveiled today are the outcome of the failure of the past supervision. The interesting point here is existence of non-military branches of the coup d’etat (media, universities, capitalists and politicians) which would come to power if the coup succeeded and if not the main victim was expected to be the army.

The media branch of the coup d’etat, since a long time ago, is suggesting the idea of religion-phobia which has recently been turned to the fear of civil dictatorship (Sivil Dikta). In denouncing Islamic tendencies, they have made reference to the models of governments in Iran and Afghanistan for their audience. While these media are dissatisfied with legal actions against the coup plotters, Islamist media that are close to the government are unhappy with lack of a severe legal encounter with senior military men on the other hand. However, some circles are not in favor of strong weakening of the army.

Meantime, Erdogan's efforts to amend the Constitution that have been intensified recently and his meetings with different groups of people, such as artists, etc. for launching a campaign on democratic opening, are all indicative of the fact that the government is standing in a power position in recent events and is not intended to dispense with its targets.