The indictment in the Sledgehammer plan, a suspected coup plot created in 2003 at a military gathering, was accepted on Monday by the Ä°stanbul 10th Criminal Court. It mentions 196 suspects and names retired Gen. Çetin DoÄŸan, the former head of the 1st Army, as its prime suspect. Among other things, the indictment provides details of plans by coup instigators to cooperate with certain terrorist organizations to accomplish their ultimate goal, a coup.
According to the indictment, the junta led by Gen. DoÄŸan, hoped to “benefit from” the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as well as some other ultra-leftist and communist terrorist groups. The coup plotters used the chaos created ahead of the March 12, 1971 memorandum and Sept. 12, 1980 coup as a precedent for their actions. The social unrest in the country ahead of these other military interventions is thought to have aided the military in seizing control of the country.
Documents detailing plans to work with terrorist groups were seized from retired Brig. Gen. Süha Tanyeri. “Cooperation with extreme leftist and communist terrorist groups” is proposed in handwritten notes.
In another document titled “Süha Tanyeri’s Plan Seminar Notes,” mentioned on page 953 of the indictment, Tanyeri also suggests cooperating with the PKK to fight “reactionaryism.” “The people who will cooperate with the PKK for this purpose should be determined beforehand,” the document states.
Sledgehammer is a suspected coup plot created in 2003 at a military gathering with the intent of overthrowing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. According to the plan, the military was to systematically foment chaos in society through violent acts, among which were planned bomb attacks on the Fatih and Beyazıt mosques in İstanbul. The plot allegedly sought to undermine the government and to lay the groundwork for a military takeover.
According to the indictment, the designation of the plan was changed from a seminar plan to a coup plan after the election of the AK Party in 2002. The indictment further alleges that Gen. DoÄŸan, who was uneasy with the AK Party receiving the majority of votes in the Nov. 3, 2002 elections, took the initiative to devise a coup plan, saying that Turkey would lose the “gains of Feb. 28.”
Feb. 28, 1997, the military orchestrated the demise of a coalition government led by a now-defunct conservative party. The instigators sought to set up a national consensus government after toppling the AK Party based on Article 35 of the Internal Service Code, which stipulates that the duty of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is to protect the Turkish motherland and the Constitution. The plan says the groups who cooperate with the AK Party government, and are defined as reactionary, should be “cleared out.”
The prosecutors state in the concluding section of the document that military officers who attended the 2003 military seminar, at which participants allegedly drafted the Sledgehammer coup plot targeting the AK Party government, were also informed of the meeting’s purpose beforehand. One-hundred sixty-two military officers reportedly attended the seminar. Among the 162 officers, there are 25 active generals and 95 retired officers.
The document names former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman, former Air Forces Commander Gen. Ä°brahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek, all of whom retired in 2004, as suspects. Col. Dursun Çiçek, who is believed to have drafted another coup plot, will also be tried in the Sledgehammer case.
Among other Sledgehammer suspects are generals and admirals on active duty, including Gen. Nejat Bek, Vice Adm. Mehmet OtuzbiroÄŸlu, Maj. Gen. Ahmet Yavuz, Maj. Gen. Gürbüz Kaya and Rear Adm. Caner Bener. The list of suspects does not include any civilians.
According to the indictment, the coup plotters determined where to deploy all military personnel during and after the planned takeover. The military forces were set to be concentrated in Ä°stanbul and Bursa. The indictment also states that the gendarmerie was to operate in cooperation with the 1st Army. Gendarmerie forces were intended to mobilize every province after the planned coup.
Åžükrü Sarıışık: Treating this nation mercilessly is our duty
The indictment in the Sledgehammer plot details the 2003 gathering. A row between two commanders that took place during the seminar is also detailed in the indictment. Now retired Gen. Ergin Saygun said during the seminar that resorting to extreme violence to seize control of the country would lead to negative consequences, but then 5th Army Corps Commander Gen. Åžükrü Sarıışık objected to this. “I would fall in on Ä°stanbul. It is our duty to treat a nation mercilessly that is determined to create a new regime in this country,” he says.
Special sub-plan devised against civil society, minorities
The indictment also reveals that a separate sub-plan was devised by the Sledgehammer plotters to “spell the end of civil society organizations.” A CD seized during the course of the investigation contains information that states, “There are 68,880 NGOs operating in the country and 11,980 of them are based in Ä°stanbul … reactionary groups mostly operate in the form of NGOs.” The plan also lists further actions to be taken. According to this list, all property belonging to NGOs would be seized, and the administrators of these NGOs would be arrested. However, NGOs that were perceived to suit the coup’s needs would only face a change in administrative staff.
Another striking section in the document on the CD details the plan for minorities. The document says the activities of minority educational institutions, hospitals, media outlets and associations would be frozen until further notice. If these institutions were found to be “harmful,” their property would be seized. In the end, the coup plotters intended to shut down the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and to arrest Patriarch Bartholomew.
KaradaÄŸ’s signature appears on many Sledgehammer documents
Retired Col. Fikri KaradaÄŸ, currently jailed as a suspect in the Ergenekon trial, is frequently mentioned in the indictment. His signature appears on a number of Sledgehammer documents. KaradaÄŸ was arrested in late 2008 on charges of membership in a terrorist organization, namely Ergenekon. Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal organization accused of working to topple the AK Party government. He is also mentioned as a suspect in the Sledgehammer indictment. The indictment alleges that KaradaÄŸ was assigned to coordinating activities as part of the plan.
