Panel report becomes legal paper

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Part of a report by Parliament’s Coups and Memorandums Inquiry Commission was sent to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 31, following a demand by the related prosecutor.

Mustafa Bilgili, working under Article 10 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK), is currently investigating the Feb. 28 process, the 1997 army-led campaign that led to the resignation of the government of the time. Bilgili requested the section of the Commission’s report that is related to the Feb. 28 process.

Bilgili has been conducting his investigation on charges of “attempting to annul the government of the Republic of Turkey; or attempting to partially or entirely blocking the government from performing its duties.”

On Dec. 27, the Istanbul 13rd Heavy Penal Court sent a warrant to the Parliament Speaker’s Office requesting the entire report, along with its annexes.

The Court is in charge of the Ergenekon coup plot case.

Ergenekon is an alleged ultranationalist gang accused of plotting to overthrow the government by fomenting chaos in society. The case includes 275 suspects, 67 of whom are under arrest.

In late November, the Commission finalized its report – which investigated the 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997 coups, as well as the April 27, 2007 e-memorandum and made a number of suggestions to prevent future military coups – and submitted it to Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek.

The Commission’s head, Nimet Baş, had already made public on Nov. 30 that the requested documents concerning the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup and the Feb. 28 process were sent to prosecutors investigating them.

At the time, when asked whether there had been any official complaints in the report about those held responsible with regard to the coups, Baş said this was not a duty of the Commission.

“After the report is released, it is the prosecution office that will determine responsibility. The prosecution of some crimes is not up for complaint. Prosecutors are able to prosecute it on their own account. With regard to serious crimes such as coups and aiding coups, they can take initiatives after assessing the Commission’s work,” Baş said.