Gen staff given legal complaint
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
A group of intellectuals yesterday lodged a criminal complaint against Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, urging the judicial authorities to prosecute him over remarks relating to political affairs, as well as an alleged attempt to influence the judiciary.The complaint, filed at the Chief Prosecutor’s office, followed Özel’s remarks to the daily Milliyet earlier this month where he raised objections against Kurdish-language education and commented on an investigation into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
Speaking for the plaintiffs, Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran said Gen. Özel’s remarks constituted “a clear indication he is following in the footsteps of the former chiefs of staff and is bent on bringing the military into politics and letting it interfere.”
Özel violated both the Penal Code and the Military Penal Code, he said. The government’s failure to reprimand the general was “unacceptable,” he said.
The four other signatories of the complaint were academics Ahmet İnsel and Gencay Gürsoy, journalist Aydın Engin and writer Cengiz Algan.
