In a landmark ruling, a Turkish court ruled for aggravated life imprisonment for 21 suspects, including former Chief of Staff Gen. Ismail Hakki Karadayi and his deputy Gen. Cevik Bir, in the Feb. 28, 1997 post-modern coup case Daily Sabah Reported
In addition to Karadayi and Bir, former First Army Commander Gen. Cetin Dogan, former Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Fevzi Turkeri, former National Security Council (MGK) Secretary General Gen. İlhan Kilic and former Council of Higher Education (YÖK) President Kemal Guruz were also sentenced for for the charges of attempting to overthrow the legitimate government through use of force.
The sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, whereas the defendants were not arrested due to old age and health problems. The defendants were banned from leaving the country and will remain under judicial control.
The court acquitted 68 suspects.
An ultimatum to the government by powerful military on Feb. 28, 1997 led to subsequent resignation of the government and further boosted a crackdown on mainly conservative people in the country. The coup did not involve killings - hence it was called a postmodern - but it disrupted the lives of people forced to drop out of school, dismissed from their jobs and jailed on trumped-up charges.
Karadayi served as the chief of the military staff from 1994 to 1998, at a time when the army put pressure on then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan and his conservative Welfare Party over "secular concerns." On Feb. 28, 1997, the military-dominated MGK threatened action if Erbakan did not back down. He resigned four months later, whereas the Welfare Party and its successor Virtue Party were banned by the Constitutional Court in Jan. 1998 and June 2001.
Within the scope of the Feb. 28 decisions, the "Bati Calişma Grubu" (West Study Group) was founded and chaired by Bir, who was considered the "mastermind" of the coup plot, to control the proceeding of the decrees under the name of "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces."
Briefings on secularism were given, particularly to judges, civil servants and media executives, by members of the military. Repression of religious segments of society was hardened, including a ban on headscarves at universities. A great number of civil servants were fired. Heavy censorship was imposed on the media, and opposition journalists were fired. Some companies saw embargoes imposed, on the pretext that they support reactionary politics. "Reactionary" or "irticaci" in Turkish refers to a broad derogatory term used by hardline secular groups to brand any person with religious affiliation.
Ozkasnak, a general who served as secretary-general at the office of the Chief of General Staff during the coup, had said in an interview that "postmodern" was "a very good adjective to describe this activity of the Armed Forces," in reference to the coup. He has said he has done his duty in the process "that did not resemble the past coups."
"There was no bloodshed and nobody was upset. It was through democratic means and with the assistance of nongovernmental organizations," he said since then.
Guruz, the former head of the “YÖK” that oversees universities, coordinated with the BCG and blacklisted academics, university staff and students.