Generals who staged 1980 military coup asked to testify by prosecutor
Generals who staged 1980 military coup asked to testify by prosecutor
A prosecutor in Ankara sent invitations to Kenan Evren, the chief of General Staff at the time of the coup, and Tahsin Þahinkaya, then the Air Force commander, to testify in an investigation into the military coup and crimes of the post-coup era.
One of the leaders of the 1980 military coup d’etat, retired general Nejat Tümer died Monday at the age of 87. He was the Navy commander at the time of the Sept. 12, 1980, coup. Tümer died just hours before a prosecutor called the last two coup leaders still living to testify in court.
The two men are the last living members of the National Security Council, or MGK, formed after the army brass took over the control of the country.
Evren’s lawyer has asked the prosecutor that his client be allowed to testify at his house in Ankara due to his age and health problems. The prosecutor’s office said it would assess the request. It will also decide where and how Þahinkaya, who lives in Istanbul, will give his testimony.
Evren, the country’s seventh president, had previously said he would never testify and claimed he would commit suicide before that would happen. “I promise in front of my nation that I will not let this matter be dealt with in the courts. I will commit suicide,” he said when the idea of a coup trial was discussed in 2009.
The investigation could result in a case being opened against Evren and Þahinkaya; alternatively, the prosecutors could decide not to pursue the case.
One of the leaders of the 1980 military coup d’etat, retired general Nejat Tümer died Monday at the age of 87. He was the Navy commander at the time of the Sept. 12, 1980, coup. Tümer died just hours before a prosecutor called the last two coup leaders still living to testify in court.
The two men are the last living members of the National Security Council, or MGK, formed after the army brass took over the control of the country.
Evren’s lawyer has asked the prosecutor that his client be allowed to testify at his house in Ankara due to his age and health problems. The prosecutor’s office said it would assess the request. It will also decide where and how Þahinkaya, who lives in Istanbul, will give his testimony.
Evren, the country’s seventh president, had previously said he would never testify and claimed he would commit suicide before that would happen. “I promise in front of my nation that I will not let this matter be dealt with in the courts. I will commit suicide,” he said when the idea of a coup trial was discussed in 2009.
The investigation could result in a case being opened against Evren and Þahinkaya; alternatively, the prosecutors could decide not to pursue the case.
