Detained Turkish officers testify to prosecutors

Prosecutors Wednesday questioned 20 former and active military personnel from a group of nearly 50 who were detained Monday for allegedly plotting a coup, according to a private news channel.

At least nine of those who testified Wednesday are still on active duty, while at least five have retired, including Adm. Ahmet Feyyaz Öğütçü, commander of the North Sea Fleet, NTV reported.

The military personnel were detained for suspected links to the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) Operation, an alleged coup plan in which the military planned to create turmoil in society by bombing mosques and shooting down Turkish warplanes over the Aegean Sea.

Meanwhile, seven soldiers, including rear admirals Ramazan Cem Gündeniz and Aziz Çakmak who are still on active duty, were arrested on Wednesday after they were brought to court.

Bülent Kılıç, lawyer for arrested retired Col. Ümit Özcan, said there was no evidence against his client or the others in the file beyond a document whose author was unknown, the private news site NTVMSNBC reported.

“There is a document, but it is uncertain whose computer it came from and who put it in the file,” Kılıç said, adding that the document is a list of names dated from 2002. Because of this, he said the suspects’ lawyers would object to the arrests.

Commanders still in courthouse

Police, meanwhile, were continuing to detain former Air Force Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and former Navy Cmdr. Özden Örnek at the police department, private news site CNNTürk reported.

Those reacting against the detainment of the generals argued that, according to the law, only chief prosecutors are permitted to question generals, not police. “Because of his situation, [only] a chief prosecutor can question him because he is a former commander. We do not understand why he is still being kept at the Istanbul police department,” said Fırtına’s lawyer, Atilla Hekimoğlu.