European Forum

Political tensions growing in Turkey over suspected coup plot

Last week boiling tensions between Turkey's government and judicial elite erupted into and open confrontation over the handling of a probe into an alleged plot to overthrow the Islamist-rooted government. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on 18 February that the decision made a day earlier by the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) to remove prosecutors from the long-running inquiry was a "heavy blow" against justice and "a shame for democracy." "The functioning of independent justice has been prevented. How can prosecutors now carry out probes freely, without fear?" he said. This weekend, however, Arinc said there was “no conflict between the government and the HSYK” .

At the heart of the conflict is a probe into the ‘Ergenekon’ network, which is accused of plotting political chaos in a bid to prompt a military coup against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The probe has also sparked tensions between the government and the army, which has denounced the charges as a smear campaign and asserted that military coups are now "a thing of the past." Tensions rose last November when the Justice Ministry conceded that dozens of senior prosecutors and judges were wire-tapped on suspicion of belonging to the Ergenekon network, considered a "terrorist group" by investigators.

Latest clash
The central figure in the latest row is Ilhan Cihaner, a prosecutor accused by rival colleagues of belonging to Ergenekon, who was arrested on 17 February. Cihaner caused irritation by launching a probe into an Islamic community and claimed he came under government pressure to abandon the proceedings. His arrest prompted an emergency meeting of the HSYK, which said the move was unlawful and downgraded four prosecutors, effectively removing them from the probe against Cihaner. The Court of Appeals and the Council of State backed the decision. The country's chief prosecutor in the meantime said he was examining whether the government had exerted pressure on the judiciary, a move that may in theory result in a bid to seek AKP's closure at Turkey Constitutional Court.
In 2008, the ruling AKP just barely escaped from being banned for violating Turkey's secular system.

Early elections?
An AKP official told local media that the government would call snap polls if another closure case is opened. "No one should expect us to put our neck under the constitutional court's guillotine... We will immediately call early elections," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

EU concerned about independence judiciairy
In its latest report on Turkey’s membership talks the European Commission questioned the “independence, impartiality and efficiency” of the judiciary, and said the conduct of high profile cases raised concerns about the quality of investigations.

Ergenekon probe as governmental tool
An investigation into the Ergenekon network was launched in 2007 and was initially hailed as a success in a country where the army has unseated four governments since 1960. The prosecution's hand was strengthened when several weapons caches were dug out. But its credibility declined as police began arresting secularist journalists, writers and academics, with prosecutors relying increasingly on dubious anonymous letters and secret witnesses. Some suspects have accused police of fabricating evidence. Critics say the probe has become a government instrument to bully the secularist opposition. Main opposition leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, stated last week that AKP “mates” in the judiciary had acted as "hitmen" to "silence, crush and disable" colleagues who do not conform to AKP's political line. "The rule of law itself is under threat," he added. Supporters of the ruling AKP, however, blame the tensions on the old, rigidly secularist elite resisting the democratisation process in the country and refusing to cede power to religiously-minded.

New detainments
In a wave of new detainments related to the Ergenekon probe, Turkish police have detained roughly a dozen former military commanders today (22 February) and have searched the homes of two retired Army generals

Sources: Hurriyet Daily; AFP; Volkskrant (Dutch)