The chief prosecutor's office in Ankara is investigating Turkey's infamous "postmodern" 1997 coup, looking into allegations that some media outlets helped the coup leaders in the witch hunt against the conservative population.
Anadolu Agency reported that the prosecutor's office sought to obtain documents from police and army regarding several suspects, including media figures. Mehmet Ali Yalçındağ, a top media executive, is among the names facing scrutiny. The prosecutor's office asked Turkish police's counterterrorism unit to check any record of Yalçındağ's connection to the Western Work Group, if there is any. The Western Work Group is a faction in the army accused of spearheading the coup that toppled the coalition government. The group was involved in a defamation campaign and blacklisting of conservatives, according to victims of the Feb. 28 coup, who were forced to quit their jobs and fell victim to smear campaigns in the "bloodless" coup. Former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller said in a testimony that she too was a victim of the group. She had claimed the group comprising top military officers launched a defamation campaign against her after she discovered their covert activities.
Anadolu Agency reported that the prosecutors are also looking into the alleged visits of several prominent journalists and media tycoons to the army headquarters in Ankara during the coup. Journalists, including columnists known for their firebrand articles, openly targeted conservatives ahead of the coup.
The Feb. 28 coup against the so-called Islamist government of the Welfare Party (RP) took place in 1997, two years after the RP came to power. The rift between the government and the army, which saw itself as the defender of secularism, widened and evolved into an all-out conflict between so-called secular circles and the government.
Through harsh statements, top generals, Supreme Court officials and other "defenders" of secularism warned the government against Islamist tendencies.
In 1996, Turkish media outlets launched a thinly-veiled defamation campaign against conservatives in the wake of the Müslüm Gündüz scandal. Gündüz, the leader of a previously unknown religious order, was arrested by police for his involvement in rallies against the secular state, a crime in Turkey. Police raided Gündüz's home on live TV in Istanbul. At the time of the raid, Gündüz was with a young woman he allegedly persuaded to enter into a religious marriage. After the raid, the media initiated a campaign tarnishing the image of conservatives by depicting them as sex-obsessed fanatics.
When Erbakan hosted a dinner for leaders of religious sects in his office in 1997, another campaign against the RP was launched in the media. News reports claiming the government would change the secular regime and top military brass, followed. Eventually, on Feb. 28, 1997, the National Security Council convened and called on the government to comply with laws ensuring the secular state. This was followed by a lawsuit against the RP, in which Chief Prosecutor Vural Savaş demanded the closure of the party. In the face of these developments, Erbakan resigned from his post on June 18, 1997.
An investigation into the coup began in 2012. A wave of arrests involving generals followed, but civilian involvement in the coup has not yet been thoroughly investigated.
