Azerbaijan, Baku, March 1 / Trend , R.Hafizoglu/
There is a secret agreement between the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) and the Chief of General Staff of Turkish Army Ilker Bashbug on the issue of arrests in Turkey in connection with the Balyoz plan of coup, said the former MP from Saadat Party of Turkey, Prof. Mehmet Bekaroglu.
"The operations in Turkey against the Balyoz military plan of coup are carried out through a secret agreement between the JDP government and the Chief of General Staff of Turkish Army Ilker Bashbug," Bekaroglu told Trend by telephone from Ankara on March 1.
According to the Turkish governmental newspaper "TARAF", Turkish Armed Forces have prepared a special plan under the name "Balyoz" to overthrow the government of the country. Under this plan, after exploding mosques Fatih Dzhamisi and Bayazid in Istanbul during Friday prayers, attacking on a military museum of the country, blowing up several fighter aircrafts belonging to Air Forces of Turkey and laying the blame on Greece, the Turkish Armed Forces had to take advantage of the resulting chaos in the country and overthrow the government. According to the newspaper, the preparation and implementation of the plan involved the former general in the Armed Forces of Turkey Chetin Dogan, and this plan was prepared in 2002-2003. According to the plan, after the military coup in Turkey, mass arrests had to begin.
Deputy Chief of the Turkish General Staff, Gen. in retirement Ergin Saygun and Former Gen. of the Turkish Armed Forces Chetin Dogan were arrested on Feb. 22 during operations by Turkish police against the Balyoz plan. The arrested officials of the army were freed after they provided testimonies.
The processes taking place in Turkey today are not really such that they seem at the first glance, and the country is moving towards major changes. "The world will not accept Turkey as a country where at any time, the army can carry out a coup and intervene in politics, and particularly for this reason the country is forced to democratize," he said.
The ruling power, as well as some officials of the army and the forces outside the country want democratization of the country. There is an agreement between Erdogan's government and former Chief of General Staff of Turkish Army Yashar Boyukanit to democratize the country and the separate and split the army from politics, said Bekaroglu.
Bekaroglu believes that if the JDP did not cooperate with the officials of the army within anti-terrorist operations, and there would not be certain agreement between them, the arrest of officials of the army would be impossible.
"At present, in the Turkish Army, there are forces trying to interfere in the internal and external policies of the country. But we should not forget that in any democratic country, the army did not interfere in state policy," he said.
The ongoing anti-terrorist operations should be assessed not as a revenge of the JDP from the army, but as a process of transforming the army into a democratic army. The process of removing the army from politics will continue in the future regardless of who will take the office of the Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Army, the expert said.
"Without exception, all the military coups that have taken place in Turkey earlier were carried out with the support and consent of the government of the United States. The fact that now the military coup did not occur, preventing attempts at coup shows that Washington is not interested in the military coup," said Bekaroglu.
The arrest of army officials could lead to some internal tensions, but it will last long. "The arrest of officials of the army may affect the number of votes for the JDP in future elections. However, the arrests will not cause chaos in the country," he said.