Coup panel to hear former Turkish president

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Rahşan Ecevit, wife and lifetime political companion of late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit.

Parliament’s coup inquiry commission decided today to meet “urgently” with six elderly political figures, among them former President Süleyman Demirel, to hear their accounts of military interventions in the past.

Besides Demirel, the panel will also seek meetings with Rahşan Ecevit, wife and lifetime political companion of late Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, veteran politicians Hüsamettin Cindoruk and Ahmet İsvan, as well as Numan Esin and Ahmet Er, surviving members of the military units which carried out the 1960 coup. All are elderly people and the meetings will be planned with consideration for their health conditions.

Separately, Parliament’s Constitution Conciliation Commission failed to reach an agreement on the details of the contentious article on equality in yet another round of discussions today. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) stood firm on its objections to a proposal by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to explicitly ban discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation,” a clause aimed at introducing constitutional protection for homosexuals. The BDP’s Sırrı Süreyya Önder argued that an explicit mention was necessary because discrimination was so rife in Turkey that even Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin was “excusing” himself when he spoke about homosexuals.

The AKP also rejected a compromise formula to mention the clause in the reasoning section. The commission set aside the contentious “equality” article and proceeded to discuss the “right to live” provision.