Nine suspects released on probation in Turkey’s ‘post-modern’ Feb 28 coup case

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The trial, whose top suspect is former Chief of General Staff retired Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, started on Sept. 2. DHA photo

Nine suspects were released on probation pending trial by an Ankara court on Sept. 5 in the Feb. 28 process case, dubbed the “post-modern coup.”
 
The released figures included the former head of the Higher Education Board (YÖK), Kemal Gürüz; former Air Force Commander Ahmet Çörekçi; retired four-star general Kamuran Orhon and retired Maj. Gen. Çetin Saner. 
 
The court, however, ruled to continue the pre-trial detention of 26 other suspects.  
 
The trial, whose top suspect is former Chief of General Staff retired Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, started on Sept. 2. 
 
A total of 103 suspects are expected to appear in front of the court to defend themselves on accusations of “overthrowing the Turkish government by force.”
 
The Feb. 28 process refers to the infamous “post-modern coup,” a military intervention that forced late ex-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan to resign after a meeting of the National Security Council (MGK) on Feb. 28, 1997.

The turmoil lasted many months as the military carried out an overt campaign against the coalition government under Erbakan, the then-leader of the Welfare Party (RP). The party was banned following a ruling of the Constitutional Court in 1998. In the final indictment sent to the court on May 22, the prosecutors designated former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and former Interior Minister Meral Akşener as the leading victims in the case.