Four frail generals who were imprisoned earlier for a 1997 coup, left prison on Friday after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a presidential pardon for them late Thursday. The three men in their late 70s and 80s, who were sentenced over their role in the coup, were welcomed by their families outside Sincan prison in the capital Ankara, a facility where those sentenced over the 2016 coup attempt are also incarcerated.
“I am happy to see my family, my grandchildren. I thank everyone in the press who supported us. We would be here till death without you,” Erol Özkasnak told reporters.
Yıldırım Türker said they were happy to leave the prison where they tried to “remain healthy.”
“I hope what happened to us will not happen to others,” he said.
The amnesty encompasses high-profile names of the coup, including Fevzi Türkeri, who was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the coup, together with Türker, Özkasnak and Çetin Doğan. The 84-year-old Doğan was hospitalized due to health problems on March 1 and was discharged and sent back to prison on April 22. He was serving his term at a prison in the western province of İzmir.
Commenting on the amnesty, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç told reporters on Friday that 14 people in the coup case were pardoned and released due to their illnesses and old age. “Our history is full of shameful episodes of coups, from May 27 to Sept. 12 and Feb. 28,” he said, referring to the 1960, 1980 and 1997 coups, respectively. He said their government raised standards of democracy “to prevent future coups” and it was under constitutional amendments championed by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) that putschists were tried. He reiterated that the four men were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.
On Feb. 28, 1997, the lives of millions took a sharp turn, especially women expelled from schools for wearing headscarves and men deemed "too conservative" to hold public sector jobs and were fired, as well as others who suffered threats and lengthy legal processes, after the Turkish army, then still adhering to a tradition of self-proclaimed "tutelage" of Türkiye's secular elite, joined forces with the judiciary organs in vehement opposition to what they called "reactionary forces" in power.
The path to the coup seemingly started after the coalition government of the Welfare Party (RP) with the True Path Party (DYP), overwhelmingly endorsed by conservative voters, took the reins for the first time in Türkiye in 1996.
Actions of RP supporters and then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan exacerbated the situation, such as an event in support of Palestine organized by an RP mayor and a regulation Erbakan planned to implement ensuring the freedom to wear the headscarf at universities.
These actions were among the perceived "reactionary" activities of secular extremists, which perpetuated a witch hunt against conservative Muslims through media outlets.
On the road to the coup, the intimidation escalated, such as a parade of tanks on the streets of Ankara's Sincan, where the pro-Palestine event was held, and the suspension of the mayor on the same day.
Then-President Süleyman Demirel further escalated political tensions with thinly veiled barbs at the Erbakan-led government.
Though Erbakan tried to de-escalate tensions with his statements, the all-too-powerful National Security Council (MGK), dominated by the military brass, was determined to oust the government. On Feb. 28, it released a declaration highlighting what the council called "attempts by anti-regime elements trying to weaken the state."
It was later revealed that the military brass asked the government to implement a 20-article list, from the conversion of Imam-Hatip schools, which also offers a religious curriculum, to blocking employment of soldiers expelled from the army for their "reactionary background."
Erbakan did not sign the declaration, while Tansu Çiller tried to convince him not to draw the military's ire.
Ultimately, Erbakan stepped down from the post months later. When he resigned, the RP was already facing a lawsuit for its closure by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, his resignation and formation of a new government without the RP did not end the coup process. Erbakan and other RP politicians faced political bans, while more people were removed from their public posts.
Five years later, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a protege of Erbakan, led the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to power and reverted the state's policies to include conservative citizens. Most famously, the AK Party lifted a headscarf ban in the public sector and schools.
