Lawyer submits complaint petition for former President Demirel over Feb. 28 trial

ANKARA

Lawyer submits a complaint for former President Süleyman Demirel. DHA photo

A lawyer in the Feb. 28 coup trial has filed a complaint against former President Süleyman Demirel, suggesting that he allied with the West Study Group (BÇG), an alleged clandestine organization within the Turkish military.

In his petition submitted to Ankara court yesterday, the lawyer suggested that according to documents in the indictment, Demirel was in contact with the BÇG. The then-president chose to cooperate with the BÇG rather than submit the issue to the judiciary, when military officers presented a briefing to him on Jan. 17, 1997, which amounted to a “crime,” the petition stated.

Demirel had launched an investigation into the police department officers over an order given by the BÇG, according to the petition. “If Demirel had denounced this briefing, which constitutes a crime, the process [of the coup] would never have taken place,” the petition stated.