Top suspect in Feb 28 coup probe is former Chief of Staff Karadayı, indictment shows

ISTANBUL

Chief of Staff retired Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı (C). AA photo

The prime suspect in the case into military intervention in the Feb. 28 process of 1997 is former Chief of Staff retired Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, according to the 1,100-page indictment, media reports have said.

The indictment against a harsh army-led campaign that forced Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, the late Necmettin Erbakan, to resign in June 1997 – an event known as the Feb. 28 process.

There are 100 suspects, 76 of them arrested, and 400 complainants in the Feb. 28 case, daily Milliyet reported March.11. The number-two suspect in the indictment is former Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Çevik Bir, according to daily Taraf.

Tansu Çiller, the leader of the center-right True Path Party (DYP) at that time, is the number-one complainant in the indictment, which was prepared by Ankara Public Prosecutor Mustafa Bilgili. The DYP and Erbakan’s Welfare Party (RP) were coalition partners in the “Refahyol” government at that time.

The First Army commander at that time, Gen. Yalçın Ataman, is among the 100 suspects.

Bilgili will submit the indictment to the public prosecutor’s office before it is submitted to the courthouse. The investigation started in April 2011 upon an official complaint.

Karadayı denied involvement in any coup attempt in his testimony to the prosecutors when he was previously detained and released, daily Milliyet reported.

Apart from Karadayı, some of the other top suspects include Erol Özkasnak, Fevzi Türkeri, Çetin Saner and Kenan Deniz. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu could intervene in the Feb. 28 case if they claim to be among the victims.