Retired General Says TSK Chief Warned About Schemers
A retired army general has claimed that he warned Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ not once but twice about a group of members of the military who allegedly created an action plan to defame the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Gülen movement, the Taraf daily reported yesterday.
According to the report, the general, speaking under the condition of anonymity, said he warned Başbuğ that the group was engaged in unlawful acts. "At the time Gen. Başbuğ was land forces commander. I warned him that the group was doing wrongful deeds. I said they could put the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] and Başbuğ in a difficult position in the future. He told me that he would not allow such a thing," Taraf quoted the general as saying.
Taraf published a document last Friday that bore the "Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism." It was seized by security forces in the house of lawyer Serdar Öztürk, who represents a man who was arrested during the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government.
According to the document, the TSK devised a plan to systematically damage the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement, which is led by internationally respected Turkish scholar Fethullah Gülen; to play down the Ergenekon investigation; and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the inquest into Ergenekon.
The general said he first heard about the document in February. "The preparation of the document began in January. Two drafts of the plan were submitted to senior military members," the general said, also claiming that other, similar TSK documents exist.
The general went on to assert that the document was based on two previous reports prepared in 2003. "Col. Dursun Çiçek, who prepared the document, is one of the most innocent figures. He was given an order [to prepare the action plan], and he complied with the order," the general, however, noted.
The general also claimed: "A report was prepared by a department of the Turkish General Staff about the [2008] AK Party closure case. The report discussed the possible impact of the case," said the general, refusing to provide further details.
Asked whether Başbuğ was informed about the alleged military action plan, the general said: "I hope not. I hope he learned about the plot through your daily."
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