‘Post-modern’ coup under investigation

Prosecutors in Ankara have launched an investigation into a harsh military campaign in 1997 that forced Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, the late Necmettin Erbakan, to step down, according to media reports.

The campaign, which saw Erbakan resign only a year after he came to power in a coalition government, is widely known as a “post-modern coup” or the Feb. 28 process.

The investigation has been launched upon a criminal complaint filed by a lawyer who argued that the military’s action at the time amounted to a coup.

Retired Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı, the then chief of General Staff, and his top commanders at the time could be summoned for questioning, the reports said.

“Launching a probe into events known as the Feb. 28 process is a very important development for settling old scores from a dark period,” said a deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a Twitter message Tuesday.