Retired soldiers protest coup cases in front of Turkish General Staff

ANKARA - Hürriyet

Daily News Photo, Selahattin Sönmez.

A group of retired military officers staged a protest today in Ankara against ongoing coup cases such as Ergenekon, Balyoz, and the Feb. 28 investigation, in which prominent soldiers have been tried.

Twenty retired military officers and their wives gathered in front of the Turkish General Staff and issued a press statement, saying that the cases aim to render the army ineffective by discrediting its members and are completely political. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is not a terrorist organization and the head of the Turkish General Staff is not the head of a terrorist organization, the group added.

It also stressed the paradox that while 500 members of the Turkish Armed Forces are under arrest as part of the cases, militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are allowed to leave the country with their weapons.

The TSK should adopt the necessary stance against the cases, support its innocent members, shape public opinion and do its duty to protect Turkey’s indivisible integrity, the group also said at the demonstration.