TURKEY: Turkey releases military officers convicted of plotting to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the country's top court ruled their trial was flawed

Record ID: 230250

  • Title: TURKEY: Turkey releases military officers convicted of plotting to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the country's top court ruled their trial was flawed
  • Date: 19th June 2014
  • Summary: SILIVRI, TURKEY (JUNE 19, 2014) (REUTERS) **CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF SILIVRI PRISON COMPOUND RELATIVES OF ARMY OFFICERS WAITING FOR THEIR RELEASE CAR CARRYING RELEASED ARMY OFFICER SURROUNDED BY CAMERAS CAR CARRYING RELEASED OFFICER LEAVING SUPPORTERS AND RELATIVES WAITING (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) RELEASED EX-COMMANDER OF NAVY FORCES, OZDEN ORNEK, SAYING: "There is no reason for not being happy at this moment but this ruling has been delayed and those who delayed it will be brought to account." VARIOUS OF CARS CARRYING RELEASED OFFICERS LEAVING PRISON COMPOUND RELEASED ARMY OFFICER, AHMET YAVUZ, HUGGING HIS SON (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ARMY OFFICER, AHMET YAVUZ, SAYING: "I am not saluting freedom and I won't do it until Turkey becomes a free country. My body was imprisoned but nobody has the power to imprison my thoughts. I have been in jail for three years but I am still standing on my feet and I feel more powerful." VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF PRISON COMPOUND ANKARA, TURKEY (JUNE 19, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RELEASED ARMY OFFICERS LEAVING BY CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) FORMER LIEUTENANT-GENERAL AND LAWMAKER FOR THE NATIONALIST OPPOSITION PARTY MHP, ENGIN ALAN, SAYING: "Our struggle will continue until these dishonourable people who have planned, carried out and supported this malignity will stand in front of the just and honourable judges of this country and be given the punishment they deserve. Nobody should think they will get away with what they have done." ALAN AND HIS FAMILY SITTING IN CAR, WAVING AT SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA893SOBYM4DIO7DCWXMXDJGPIF
  • Story Text: Hundreds of military officers convicted of plotting to topple Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan began emerging from jail on Thursday (June 19), a day after the country's top court ruled their trial was flawed.
    There were emotional scenes outside prisons in Ankara and Istanbul as the released soldiers were reunited with their families who greeted them with Turkish flags and flowers, some shedding tears of joy.
    The Turkish military said it "shared the joy of the families of retired and active staff who have regained their freedom" and said it hoped a retrial would now lead to a just verdict.
    The officers said those responsible for sending them to jail will be answerable.

    "There is no reason for not being happy at this moment but this ruling has been delayed and those who delayed it will be brought to account," said Ozden Ornek, ex-commander of the naval forces.

    "I am not saluting freedom and I won't do it until Turkey becomes a free country. My body was imprisoned but nobody has the power to imprison my thoughts," said Ahmet Yavuz.
    The 2010-2012 "Sledgehammer" trial marked a high point in Erdogan's drive to tame an army that for decades had dominated politics. Critics accused Erdogan at the time of using the courts to pursue a "witchhunt" against the generals.
    In consigning hundreds of senior serving as well as retired officers to jail, the case eroded the authority and power of NATO's second biggest army while tension on the borders with Syria and Iraq demanded increased commitments.
    The constitutional court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that the officers' rights had been violated in the handling of digital evidence and the refusal to hear testimony from two former top military commanders, as requested by defendants.
    Erdogan, his primacy over the army established, said early this year he was open to the idea of a retrial. Officials had suggested evidence had been manipulated by a Islamic cleric who had been using his influence in the police and judiciary to help Erdogan break the army's power.
    The generals, who removed four governments in four decades, viewed Erdogan with suspicion because of his Islamist past. But his popularity - he has won three elections in a row - afforded him protection while he moved to break their power.
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