The Sept. 12 and Sledgehammer rulings, which came one after another to confront the past coups in Turkey indicate the roadmap that we will pursue henceforth. First of all, they show that no matter how many years have passed since these coups, a society has the right to bring even the most powerful coup plotters before a court and convict them whenever they wish. Turkish society deserves this right by plumping for the Constitutional Referendum on Sept. 12, 2010.
Secondly, judging coup-makers is, of course, something important, but what is more important is fair judgment. After the AK Party came to power, some schemers emerged who blatantly plotted numerous coups ranging from Ergenekon to Sledgehammer, against the government. It is stated in the records that although Turkish Land Forces Command opposed the map exercise conducted in the First Army, they strived to establish a consensus government through conspiracy and made arrest lists.
Instead of judging the real culprits and uncovering these plots, the autonomous structure within the judiciary included innocent people in the cases and tried to whitewash their notorious calculations.
However, this does not change the truth. In those court cases, innocent people were aggrieved, but what suffered most were the law and judicial system. It is interesting that anyone apart from Col. Dursun Çiçek, a Sledgehammer suspect, did not speak of the existence of the autonomous structure, which violated these cases continuously. All the suspects who were released spoke out in the tone of a freedom fighter, by creating an atmosphere as if no coups or coup plots were planned in this country.
As we know through our past experiences, most of those suspects who have been discharged are also abettors in the Sept. 12 and Feb. 28 coups and hidden coup in 1993. This country needs legal jurisdiction and true justice more than those conspirators. The aims of Sept. 12 and Feb. 28 still exist. The pro-coup constitution of 1980, its institutions and laws, are still in effect even though its maestros have been sentenced to life imprisonment. I hope the removal of injustices in Sledgehammer and similar cases will clear the way to confront them completely.
