Chief of Army: “I am Open to Criticism”
Speaking to journalist Fikret Bila of the Milliyet newspaper, Chief of General Staff Yasar Büyükanit said: “You know me, I am open to criticism. But when there are insults, that’s different. I don’t tolerate the Turkish Armed Forces being insulted. I have been wearing this uniform for 53 years.”
Commitment to dialogue?
Speaking before a Symposium on Global Terrorism and International Cooperation, Büyükanit further said that he would be speaking with US Vice President Dick Cheney:
“We should not avoid talking to each other. The more we speak to each other, the better we know each other. Problems are solved by talking, not by being silent.”
So why silence critics with criminal complaints?
This astonishing willingness to dialogue may surprise those who have been following how those who “talk” about the army have been treated.
The General Staff, led by Büyükanit, has filed complaints against dozens of journalists and rights activists for their comments on the army. There are plenty of examples in the last four months:
Avci, Düzel, Kesin...
There was a complaint filed against writer Gültekin Avci’s book “The Republic of the General Staff: The army’s state or the state’s army?", published at Metropol Publications. The book has been accused of “denigrating the armed forces" under Article 301.
Journalist Nese Düzel of the Taraf newspaper faces prosecution under the same charges because of an interview she conducted with Samil Tayyar. Headings in the interview included “The bomb in Semdinli was an Ergenekon job” and “Ergenekon organised the founding of Hizbullah.” Ergenekon is a ultra-nationalist criminal organisation against which there has been an operation recently. There are retired army officers in the gang.
Giving a statement at the Kadiköy prosecution in Istanbul, Düzel said that the aim of the interview was to show the existence of criminal organisations within the state, not to denigrate the Turkish Armed Forces.
Eren Keskin, lawyer and former head of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), has been put on trial under Article 301. In addition, the Istanbul Bar Association has initiated a disciplinary investigation.
Keskin had said in an article in Der Tagesspiegel that the attack on the State Council in 2006, in which one judge was killed, had “served to strengthen the order of the laicist, authoritarian and military state.”
Tiftikci, Öztürk, Magden...
Writer Osman Tiftikci and pulisher Sirri Öztürk of Sorun Publications have been on trial under Article 301 for the last two years for a book entitled “The evolution of the army from Ottoman times to today.”
Journalist Perihan Magden has previously faced a trial for an article entitled “Conscientious objection is a human right.” She had faced a three-year prison sentence but was acquitted. A second trial against her continues.
Besikci, Kaya, Izmir, Talu...
Sociologist Ismail Besikci faced a trial under Article 216 (inciting the public to enmity and hatred) for an article entitled “We did not talk, we repressed it”, published in the Popüler Kürtür Esmer magazine in December 2005. Magazine representatives Ferzende Kaya and Mehmet Ali Izmir had also faced prosecution. The trial was dropped because too much time had lapsed.
A case against journalist Umur Talu writing for the Sabah newspaper was dropped by the prosecution. He had written an article entitled “Are these impossible?”, reporting on the complaints of low-ranking soldiers. He had been accused of “damaging relations between ranks.”
These are only some of the examples of the harassment which journalists and rights activists face when attempting to criticise the army… (EÖ/GG/AG)