The Turkish Armed Forces have released a press statement on their website stating their satisfaction with the final decision made on Tuesday regarding the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot trials on Wednesday afternoon.

The statement said that the case, known as 'Balyoz Case' by the public, which had involvement false evidence, had resulted in the acquittal of Turkish Armed Forces members, as expected. Further, it said that the Turkish Armed Forces expected that those who were involved in falsely accusing the members of their forces and their families would be punished accordingly.

In addition, the statement added that theTurkish Armed Forces shared the joy of the acquitted members and families, and sent condolences to the family of the murdered prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz.

All 236 Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case suspects were acquitted on Tuesday after the prosecutor of the case sought the acquittal of all 236 suspects, including of former First Army Commander, retired General Çetin Doğan, asserting that the digital data in the file, which was presented as the key piece of evidence in the case, could not serve as evidence in the court since an expert report had revealed its falsity.

The Sledgehammer case refers to an alleged coup plot staged by the First Army Command between March 5 and March 7, 2003 in an attempt to overthrow the Turkish Republic's elected government. The five-stage plan was allegedly prepared by a junta under the leadership of then First Army Commander Doğan. The five phases are said to have included the Oraj plan by the Air Force and the Suga plan by the Navy in an attempt to foment chaos and lay the groundwork for a coup. Other plans involved targeting religious leaders, non-Muslim community leaders, anti-coup academics and pro-democracy journalists. According to the alleged coup plot, the bombing of the Fatih and Beyazit Mosques would have forced the government to implement martial law while the downing of a Turkish warplane over Greek airfields would have provoked the Turkish public.