Retired admirals' midnight declaration on Montreux Convention triggers 'coup' debate

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A declaration by 103 retired admirals about an international convention on the Turkish Straits and a video allegedly showing an admiral in Islamic clothes together with members of a religious cult has drawn ire from government officials, who accused them of implicitly threatening the government with a coup.

Also, prosecutors in Ankara have stated an ex-officio investigation "to identify the people who released the declaration and those in connection with them."

"The opening of the Montreux Convention to debate as part of Canal İstanbul and the authority of the annulment of international treaties is met with concern," says the declaration.

It has been debated whether the Montreux Convention will be binding for Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait, was introduced. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously said it wouldn't be.

The president's authority

More recently, Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop, in defense of Erdoğan's move to pull Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention on combating violence against women, said that the president can also withdraw the country from the Montreux Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.

He later clarified his remarks, saying that he made a comment in terms of legal technicalities rather than the government's intentions.

"Being one of the most important waterways in the world, the Turkish Straits have been administered in accordance with multinational treaties throughout the history," says the declaration, noting that it gives Turkey full sovereignty over the straits and made it possible for Turkey to remain neutral in World War II.

"We are of the opinion that all kinds of statements and actions that can make the Montreux Convention, which holds a significant place in Turkey's survival, a subject of debate or put it onto table should be avoided."

The admiral at a "religious cult meeting"

As for the video showing rear admiral Mehmet Sarı in Islamic clothes in a home together with the members of who are said to be members of a pro-government religious cult, the retired officers said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) should maintain the Constitution's unchangeable values and the "modern path" drawn by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic.

"The TSK and our Naval Forces have suffered a very deliberate attack by FETÖ ["Fetullahist Terrorist Organization"] and sacrificed its valuable staff members to these treacherous conspiracies," says the statement, in reference to an Islamic group led by US-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, which was allied with the government until late 2013.

The group is held responsible for the July 2016 coup attempt and numerous officers have been dismissed from the army for being members of it since then.

"For these reasons, we condemn and oppose with all our existence the efforts to portray the TSK and our Naval forces as if they moved away from these values and the modern path drawn by Atatürk.

"Otherwise, the Republic of Turkey may face the risk and threat of experiencing depressing and the most dangerous incidents for its survival, which have examples in history."

This last sentence was the one that government officials took as an implicit threat for a coup.

"Know your place"

Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun was the first one to react to the declaration.

"A few admirals came together and wrote a 'declaration.' And the fifth column elements got excited. Sit the hell down. That Turkey is now in the past!" he wrote on Twitter. "This nation showed friends and enemies on July 15 that how it trampled those who desired a coup. Know your place!"

Noting that the declaration was released by 103 people and 103 days before July 15, the anniversary of the coup attempt, Altun said, "Who are you? How can you wag your finger at the legitimate representatives of the national will?"

"Our nation has the last say on this land ... We are on duty at the disposal of our nation," he also wrote.

Parliamentary Speaker Şentop tweeted, "Expressing an opinion and is on thing, preparing a declaration resembling a coup is another."

AKP Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş wrote, "That era is in the past! Know your place! Even if you are not comfortable with that, understand it: This nation has protected the homeland, the blue homeland, democracy and the national will by paying a price and it will protect it."

Ministry: "Harmful to democracy"

The Ministry of National Defense released a written statement today, saying that the declaration does nothing more than "damaging the country's democracy and negatively affecting the morale of the army personnel."

"We have full faith that the independent Turkish judiciary will do what is necessary," it said.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of the government, also reacted to the declaration on Twitter, suggesting that the retired admirals should be stripped of their veteran rights. (AS/RT/VK)