Former general top suspect in Feb. 28 coup probe

ANKARA

Kemal Gürüz, the former head of the Higher Education Board of Turkey, is reportedly the sole civilian suspect in the Feb 28 case indictment. AA photo

Prosecutors have reportedly finalized the indictment in Turkey’s so-called Feb. 28 case, the probe into an alleged “post-modern coup” attempt, placing retired Chief of General Staff Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı at the top of the suspect list and naming then-Prime Minister Tansu Çiller as the leading victim. The 1,300-page indictment was submitted to Ankara judge Murat Esen, daily Hürriyet quoted sources as saying.
 
A Feb. 28, 1997, military memorandum sparked turmoil that led to the resignation of the ruling coalition government later that year; the events, which came to be known as the Feb. 28 process, are often referred to as a post-modern coup. The sole civilian suspect in the case, according to broadcaster CNNTürk’s report yesterday, is Kemal Gürüz, the former head of the Higher Education Board of Turkey (YÖK). Gürüz, a hardliner, also had forced Beşir Atalay, a current deputy prime minister, to resign from his seat as the founder rector at Kırıkkale University.