Another retired general arrested in Feb 28 coup probe

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Retired Gen. İzettin İyigün was responsible of the education and doctrinement at the land forces command during the events that surrounded the “post-modern” coup of Feb. 28. AA photo

A local court ordered the arrest of a retired Gen. İzzettin İyigün as part of the newest wave in the investigation into the “post-modern coup” of Feb. 28, 1997 upon the request of the Ankara Chief Prosecutor.

İyigün, who was summoned earlier in the day, was initially taken to the İstanbul Courthouse then later brought to Ankara to testify. “Let them take pictures,” İyigün said of cameramen wanting to shoot while he was entering court, “We are proud people who served 43 years for the Republic of Turkey.” 

İyigün is notoriously known for having said he was the one who ordered the rolling of tanks in the streets of Sincan district of Ankara in 1997 following an Islamic gathering organized by the local municipality during an interview in 2004, seven years after the Feb 28 events took place. This episode sparked the process that led to what would eventually cause the fall of the Erbakan government. “I made the balance check” İyigün had said.

More than 10 generals and admirals have been arrested over the past month as part of the same investigation. On Feb. 28, 1997, Turkey’s National Security Council (MGK) warned the Erbakan-led Welfare Party (RP) government “not to stray from the path of democracy and official secularism,” following weeks of tension between generals and the ruling coalition.