Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Ozel has released a statement over Balyoz (Sledgehammer) verdict, underlining that he was just a public servant whose duty was defined by laws following the questions over his silence after the coup case verdict was released Hurriyetdailynews reported.
The verdicts of such historic cases should be discussed by experts, evaluated by legislative and executive bodies, and the heart-searching for the verdicts should be made by nation, Ozel said.
"Due to my corporate identity, I think I don't have right to comment on subjetcs that were submitted to the court," Ozel said.
Ozel also slammed the recent stories that said most of the acquitted suspects in the coup case were members of the Land Forces, describing them as moves to break the peace and to make discrimination in Turkish Armed Forces.
The Supreme Court of Appeals approved the convictions of 237 suspects in its much-anticipated verdict in the Balyoz case on Oct. 9, while quashing the convictions of 63 other suspects on the grounds that they had agreed to commit a crime but had not followed through and actually committed an infraction.