Settling accounts with a brutal coup
ŞAHİN ALPAY
Today's Zaman
Ankara
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-276766--settling-accounts-with-a-brutal-coup.html
In the history of Turkish democracy there have been four successful military interventions, each with its own character. The most radical and brutal military coup, whose deep imprint on Turkish politics has yet to be erased, is the one that seized power on Sept. 12, 1980.
Last week the judicial case against that coup started with only two surviving members of the five-member junta, one aged 95 and the other 87, to stand trial.
That military officers involved in coups or coup attempts are being brought before the law is highly significant in terms of avoiding such crimes being committed in the future and for coups to take their place in the dustbin of history. This is surely a great achievement for Turkish democracy. There are, however, things not to be forgotten while settling accounts with the 1980 coup, mainly the political and economic environment that paved the way for it.
In the late 1970s Turkey's intellectuals at large did not believe in democracy. Most of them were committed to authoritarian or totalitarian ideologies of the fascist, Islamist or communist kind. In the "slow motion civil war" being waged between ultra left- and right-wing groups, an average of five people a day lost their lives. The government and main opposition parties were so sharply polarized that they could not cooperate to avoid the coup which gave all the signs of its coming.
The import substitution industrialization strategy implemented since the mid-1950s had gone bankrupt, causing a severe balance of payments crisis. The coalition between İstanbul-based big business, which owed its power to state protection and favors, the heavily subsidized agricultural producers and the unionized workers representing only a tiny part of the labor force, on which the status quo rested, had collapsed. Under these conditions of simultaneous political and economic crisis, the military committed to Kemalism, regarding itself as the owner of both the state and the people, knowing no other solution than staging a coup, seized power as it had previously done in 1960 and 1971. In order to legitimize the intervention, the military refrained for over a year from taking effective measures to stop the violence and watched on as the "slow motion civil war" got worse.
The greater part of society met the coup with the conviction that there was no other way out of the severe crisis and the expectation that the military would withdraw to the barracks after a relatively short time, as in the two previous occasions. That was, however, not at all to be the case. The military junta established a brutally oppressive rule and stayed in power for over three years. Parliament was dissolved, political parties were closed down, and the constitution was dumped. Some 650,000 people were detained, and 230,000 of them were prosecuted. Exactly 517 people were sentenced to death, and 50 of them were executed. A full 171 people died from torture. Nearly 14,000 were stripped of their citizenship, and 30,000 sought political asylum abroad.
Kurds faced the most atrocious treatment. Torture and inhumane treatment at its worst turned Diyarbakır Prison into a breeding ground of militants for the violent uprising led by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Those released from prison went up the mountains to join the insurgency. The plotters of the 1980 coup should be tried not only for toppling the elected government but also for the crimes against humanity they committed. All responsible for torture and ill treatment should be brought before the law.
The military junta, moving beyond the limits of Kemalism, adopted the ideology of the so-called "Turkish-Islamic Synthesis," and established a national security state dominated by the military. It adopted a highly authoritarian constitution in 1982, and complemented it with nearly 600 restrictive laws. That Constitution and many of the related laws are, very regrettably, still in force, having been only partly amended in the course of reforms adopted between 2001 and 2004 to start accession negotiations with the European Union. Without replacing the Constitution, and particularly the laws on political parties and elections drawn by the military at the time, Turkey will not be able to settle accounts with the 1980 coup.
It also needs to be remembered that there have also been significant unintended consequences of that coup. Having experienced the brutalities of that military coup, a growing number of intellectuals previously committed to authoritarian and totalitarian ideologies grasped the value of political freedom and democracy, and also the importance of the EU accession process in securing it. The increasingly liberalizing and globalizing economy beginning in the 1980s led to the rise of the Anatolian business and professional classes committed to democracy and secularism, which explains, in the main, why the large part of the Islamist movement in Turkey transformed into conservative democracy as represented by the Justice and Development Party, in power since 2002.
Even death should not save junta, coup perpetrators
BÜLENT KENEŞ
b.kenes@todayszaman.com
Today's Zaman
Ankara
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-276809-even-death-should-not-save-junta-coup-perpetrators.html
There is a Turkish saying used to depict a deplorable situation: "May God not put anyone in such a situation!" This is the shortcut to empathizing with anyone who is stricken by disaster.
Yet, there are some cases when it is preposterous to hold God responsible for the mournful situation that befalls someone and to sympathize with him. For instance, it is certainly not God who put Kenan Evren, the leader of the military coup of 1980, into the sordid situation in which he has found himself today. He should put all of the blame on the coup he and his cronies undertook 32 years ago, as well as the inhuman treatment and crimes they perpetrated in its wake.
According to a front-page story run on Friday by the Sözcü newspaper, a neo-nationalist paper known to lend strong support to subversive generals and the defendants in the case against Ergenekon, a clandestine organization nested within the state trying to overthrow or manipulate the democratically elected government, Evren, referring to the situation in which he has found himself, said: "It is not a good thing to have a long life... God shouldn't have let me have such a long life. I should have died and not seen these days..." In my opinion, it was a good thing that he has had such a long life. Because of this, he has been able to see that things can change in the long run, and people will eventually settle accounts with coup perpetrators who victimize so many people and make the country an unlivable place. I believe people will be questioned in the hereafter for what they do in this world. Still, I am glad to see that in some cases, divine justice is able to partially manifest itself in this world.
Indeed, anyone who reads about the cases of torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by the Evren-led military junta will certainly like to see justice expedited. During the period when Evren was at the helm of the country, 650,000 people were detained and 1,683,000 people were blacklisted; 230,000 people were tried in 210,000 cases, the death penalty was sought for 7,000, while 517 were sentenced to the death penalty, and 50 people on death row were executed; 388,000 were denied passports, 30,000 were laid off on charges of being "dangerous," 14,000 were denaturalized, and 30,000 people sought political asylum in foreign countries; 300,000 people died in suspicious cases, and 171 people died of torture; 937 films were banned, 23,677 associations were banned and 3,854 teachers, 120 university lecturers and 47 judges were sacked; 4,000 years in prison were sought by prosecutors for 400 journalists, and they were sentenced to 3,315 years in prison; and 299 people died in prison, 144 of them under suspicious circumstances.
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned crimes, wouldn't it be an injustice to the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who were unfairly victimized to show mercy to the once-powerful Evren, who created chaos in the country to pave the way for the coup? Evren says, "I should have died so that I would not have seen these days," but even death should not save coup perpetrators like him. Even if they are dead, they must account for the tyrannies they undertook. For this reason, legal action must be brought against all military coups and interventions, which persecuted millions of people and blocked the country's socio-political and economic development, even if their perpetrators are long dead. The generals who issued the memorandum of March 12, 1971, and the commanders who overthrew the government on May 27, 1960, and executed the prime minister of the time and two ministers in a sham trial must be tried as well. Yes, these criminals must be put on trial, even if they are dead, and they must be penalized as if they were alive. In this way, courts should issue decisions certifying that coups and juntas and anti-democratic movements are crimes that will never be forgotten or forgiven. Then, these court decisions should be inserted into textbooks so that future generals can learn about the true faces of these enemies of democracy and hate them properly.
In a country like Turkey, where the democratic regime suffered from three direct and two indirect military interventions, and the military's tendency to meddle in civilian politics was never uprooted, the initiative to confront and penalize the coups and military interventions and their perpetrators should not be seen as a retrospective action. This initiative should be seen as an action that will secure our future against such threats. We need to clearly show today's and future military officers that the crimes of overthrowing the government and violating laws and human rights will never go unpunished.
Now, everyone can be sure that the e-memorandum of April 27, 2007, and the post-modern coup of February 28, 1997, and their perpetrators and supporters will certainly be called to account in court. Do not be fooled by the groups who try to portray the initiative to settle accounts with the shadowy incidents of the past as today's anti-democratic pressures. Despite the big noise this minority is making out of fear that they, too, will be penalized for their recent crimes and complicity in these crimes, Turkey will continue to confront its misty past and make good progress toward becoming a free, democratic and prosperous country.
On the other hand, some groups that said "no" to the constitutional amendments to open the door to litigating the Sept. 12 coup and campaigned harshly against these amendments in the run-up to the referendum of Sept. 12, 2010, rushed to seek co-plaintiff status in the case against the coup. Yet, I do not object to their behavior. It was a great shame for them to campaign against these constitutional amendments, but they still deserve to seek justice for the injustice they suffered during the 1980 coup.
Frankly, I am not surprised in the least to see that former President Süleyman Demirel, who had been victimized by coups several times, did not apply to become a co-plaintiff in the case after he said, "I have already settled accounts with coup perpetrators at election rallies." Since he was a political figure who was ready to facilitate things for subversive generals at all times, it is no coincidence that coups generally occurred during his term in office. Likewise, it is no coincidence that he masterminded the post-modern coup of Feb. 28 during his time as president. Given his leadership role in some military coups like that of Feb. 28, it would be inconsistent for Demirel to seek co-plaintiff status in the case against the Sept. 12 coup. We can hardly expect a political figure who has led a life rife with inconsistency stemming from pragmatism and opportunism, embodied in his infamous quote, "Yesterday is yesterday, and today is today," to be consistent with one foot in the grave.
EKREM DUMANLI
Today's Zaman
Ankara
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-276804--four-military-officers-i-knew-in-the-coup.html
It was one day after the coup.
The people who had been brought to military barracks had many questions in mind: Who staged the coup? Was it a hierarchical intervention or a coup like the one on May 27, 1960, performed in the absence of a chain of command? There were other questions as well: Were the officers who staged the coup right-wingers or left-wingers? And even worse: Who could guarantee that we would not be executed?
All these concerns that -- so long after the coup -- seem meaningless were the realities of life back then. Young people who were serving in the military were beating older people who were the age of their grandfathers. That was the order. They were beating these people to death. They were beating us while we were forced to praise them with the name "Mehmetçik" (an affectionate term for Turkish soldiers). Apparently, they were doing so because of orders from higher-ups. An orderly named Pvt. Sabri cursed at us, chanting, "You fascists!" every time reminding us that he was from İzmir [a province called "Infidel İzmir" among some Turks because of its pro-secular population]. The people subjected to torture were screaming. Because our house was close to the military compound, I was woken up by military songs every morning. Now we were subjected to excruciating torture in a military barrack that was less than a mile away from my home. I wondered whether my dear mother had heard me.
The torturers did not care about the fathers or the mothers. Obviously, as they hit more strongly, they believed that things were getting better in Turkey. They made a list of people who would be electrocuted every day. I saw one of my friends on the list, a delicate young man named Hasbi. I did not know anybody else in Yozgat back then who wore brilliantine; however, the torturers did some of the greatest harm to him and you could not compare his appearance to times before his arrest.
Sleeping was banned at the barrack. You would be cursed at if they saw you sitting. The transportation of people to the barracks became a brutal ceremony. One night, I saw Feriz, the son of our neighbors. They took people to Çamlık and told them to run away. Nobody moved because of fear that they could be shot in the back. But the treatment in response was brutal. The detainees were told to lie down; after hearing the command, dozens of people lay down. Then they were told to crawl. No matter how well these people obeyed the orders, they would be brutalized anyway. I also saw İlbey in the crowd. He was a teacher and a nice guy. As far as I recalled, he had gotten married a few days earlier. I still remember the image of İlbey standing with heavy blood on his cheeks and shattered lips. Nobody cared about his personality or profession. It was like Anatolia was invaded by enemy forces. We could not hear from Kadir Baran [the head of the Idealists (Ülkü Ocakları) in Yozgat]. They were holding him in solitude; there were reports that he had lost his mind because of the torture.
I saw four high-ranking military officers in Yozgat barracks. One of them was Lt. Murat. He sometimes looked at us and sometimes at the torturers. When he got the opportunity, he would talk to us. He told us to hang in there. I knew he would burst into tears when he left.
One day, Sgt. Veli came in. He approached our cell. I thought he would say something important. It turned out that he spat on us. He was so full of hatred and rage doing this, his hat fell off his head. This made me laugh. Thank God I bit my lips to control myself so that I was not punished for that.
Then a commander came in. He was arrogant and sure of himself. I do not remember his name now. He asked how we were doing. Out of naivety, we told him everything we suffered from during this state of confinement. One of the detainees showed him the bloody cloth he was saving on his chest. He had part of the piece of cloth they used to blindfold us. The commander did not care. He started talking like an arrogant philosopher: "A famous British thinker said the best letter of recommendation is a nice suit. Ask your parents to bring a suit; you will stand trial in court." We were stunned. This officer would soon go to his home, have dinner with his family and talk about patriotism. He obviously got sick of our situation. But the actual sickness was in that little Mussolini who did not appreciate the value of that nice uniform.
Ten days later, Cpt. Güven appeared with a cordless phone in his hand. He approached us. We no longer expected mercy. The image of the army as the "Household of the Prophet" had already been destroyed for us. Yet we also knew that we had to listen to him. He looked at us, at our faces. I saw he was in tears. He was trembling, asking what had happened to us. We told him what had happened through a few examples. He grabbed the phone, telling his commander that the situation was grave down there. After finishing the conversation, he turned to the soldiers on guard duty and told them not to take us to interrogation at night and not to do anything to harm us. The soldiers referred to Lt. Hüseyin. Cpt. Güven once more shouted, insulting the torturers and threatening them with court-martials.
What I have just mentioned is not even 1 percent of what I know about the overall situation during the coup period. Thousands of people still have to live with their painful experiences and memories. Considering those who were under 15 in 1980 and those who were born in the aftermath, we could say that nearly 40 million people have no idea about what a coup is like. For some, a coup is like a computer game. But it is not.
The coup leaders are on trial now, after 32 years… We should not be distracted or diverted from this process; our desire for revenge has been gone for a while. This is not about demanding a court of revenge; it is rather about making sure that coups will no longer be staged. Lt. Hüseyin, Pvt. Sabri, then-Chief of Police Hasan, the Yozgat Prison warden and chief guard… Did they sleep well once they went to bed? They should at least confess to their families that they were part of extensive brutality. All those who have served as accomplices in the coup, from Mamak Prison to Diyarbakır Prison, should explain why they tortured the people of this country and offer an apology. They should apologize so that no one will dare consider a coup in the future.
To those who argue that today is worse than Sept. 12
The length of detention following the Sept. 12, 1980 coup was 90 days; the detainees were beaten to force them to sign a statement. If they did not sign, they would be taken into custody where they would be interrogated for 90 days. Now a suspect is held in custody for two days at most. Now they have the right to remain silent and to hire an attorney. If necessary, the prosecutor may ask for two additional days. This makes the total stay in detention four days maximum. During this period, the detainees are entitled to give a statement in the presence of an attorney. In sum: There is no beating, no electrocution and no torture. The era of using the suspect to create the evidence is over; it is now time for technology to identify the criminals through evidence.
Interestingly, despite such legal protections, the people who were taken into custody on charges pertaining to drafting coup plans have made confessions. It is mostly because the evidence is strong. They stand trial after detention in police stations; and subsequent to the trial, the court panel rules for either their arrest or release. Those who are arrested may appeal to another court. They are also allowed to ask for replacement judges. Was this the case with the coup law? First the offense was recorded and then the suspects were forced to admit to the offense through torture. It was impossible for the detainees to talk with their lawyers. Close relatives were not allowed to ask how you were doing in prison.
Despite flaws and shortcomings, Turkey has made huge progress in its judicial system. At this point, I would like to raise a strong and difficult question: Would those who are standing trial in connection with coup allegations afford the rights they are enjoying today to the people they would have taken into custody if they had been successful in their coup attempts? Never! Take a look at the 1960 coup. Did they consider law and legality when they executed the prime minister and ministers? Did they not destroy the judicial mechanism when thousands of people were subjected to torture and many young people were sentenced to death in the Sept. 12 coup? What part of the Feb. 28 process (which began the 1997 coup) was consistent with universal legal standards?
The law must apply to everyone. But it is most needed for those who hold weapons as part of a mission.
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