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Turkey will be committed to the Montreux Convention on the Turkish Straits "until it finds a better one," President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said today (April 5).
"If a need arises in the future, we won't hesitate to review any convention to make our country have a better one," he told reporters after a meeting with government officials at the presidential complex.
He added that Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait, will be built and the Montreux Convention won't be binding for it, which he said will "enforce Turkey sovereignty."
About a declaration released by 103 retired admirals on Saturday night, the president said, "This act done at midnight is definitely an ill-intentioned attempt. The duty of retired admirals is not releasing declarations that include coup implications."
In their declaration, the retired admirals said the Montreux Convention should be preserved and it was concerning that it was opened up for discussion through Canal İstanbul.
The declaration also mentions leaked photos showing rear admiral Mehmet Sarı in Islamic clothes in a home together with the members of who are said to be members of a pro-government religious cult.
"... The Republic of Turkey may face the risk and threat of experiencing depressing and the most dangerous incidents for its survival, which have examples in history," it says, referring to the two situations it mentioned.
Senior government officials have slammed the generals for implicitly threatening the government with a coup and prosecutors have opened an investigation into the declaration, detaining 10 of the retired officers.
Minister of Defense: It would please our enemies
Earlier in the day, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said that the retired admirals' declaration would only "harm our democracy and negatively affect the morale of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) staff."
The Retired Officers' Association of Turkey (TESUD) and the Retired Petty Officers of Turkey (TEMAD) chairs and board members visited Akar at the ministry today. Chief of General Staff General Yaşar Güler also attended the meeting.
Speaking to reporters there, Akar said it was clear that the declaration would only please "the enemies of Turkey."
"As defined in the Constitution, the Republic of Turkey As defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular, social state of law. We firmly believe that the independent Turkish judiciary will do what is necessary.
"The Turkish Armed Forces can't be made an instrument for ... peoples' greed, ambition and personal purposes ... Those who don't want to see the successes of the Turkish Armed Forces are those who are blinded by greed, ambition and grudge."
What happened?At midnight on April 3, some 103 retired admirals released a declaration concerning the Montreux Convention, the international treaty regulating the status of the Turkish Straits. "The opening of the Montreux Convention to debate as part of Canal İstanbul and the authority of the annulment of international treaties is met with concern," says the declaration. It has been debated whether the Montreux Convention will be binding for Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously said it wouldn't be. More recently, Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop said that the president can also withdraw the country from the Montreux Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. He later clarified his remarks, saying that he made a comment in terms of legal technicalities rather than the government's intentions. "Being one of the most important waterways in the world, the Turkish Straits have been administered in accordance with multinational treaties throughout the history," says the declaration, noting that it gives Turkey full sovereignty over the straits and made it possible for Turkey to remain neutral in World War II. "We are of the opinion that all kinds of statements and actions that can make the Montreux Convention, which holds a significant place in Turkey's survival, a subject of debate or put it onto the table should be avoided." Religious groupsThe declaration also mentions leaked photos showing rear admiral Mehmet Sarı in Islamic clothes in a home together with the members of who are said to be members of a pro-government religious cult. The retired officers said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) should maintain the Constitution's unchangeable values and the "modern path" drawn by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic. "The TSK and our Naval Forces have suffered a very deliberate attack by FETÖ ["Fetullahist Terrorist Organization"] and sacrificed its valuable staff members to these treacherous conspiracies," says the statement, in reference to an Islamic group led by US-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, which was allied with the government until late 2013. The group is held responsible for the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, and numerous officers have been dismissed from the army for being members of it since then. "For these reasons, we condemn and oppose with all our existence the efforts to portray the TSK and our Naval forces as if they moved away from these values and the modern path drawn by Atatürk. "Otherwise, the Republic of Turkey may face the risk and threat of experiencing depressing and the most dangerous incidents for its survival, which have examples in history." Government reactionsGovernment officials strongly reacted to the declaration, which they said was an implicit coup threat. Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter, "A few admirals came together and wrote a 'declaration.' And the fifth column elements got excited. Sit the hell down. That Turkey is now in the past! This nation showed friends and enemies on July 15 how it trampled those who desired a coup. Know your place!" Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın also said on Twitter that the retired officers should "know their place." Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop tweeted, "Expressing an opinion and is one thing, preparing a declaration resembling a coup is another." InvestigationProsecutors in Ankara opened an investigation into the declaration one day later and 10 retired officers were detained on April 5. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced that an ex officio investigation was launched into the declaration on charge of "making an agreement to commit a crime against the security of the state and the Constitutional order" as per the Article 316/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The Article 316/1 of the TCK says, "Where two or more persons make an agreement to commit any one of the offences listed in parts four and five of this chapter by using appropriate means, a penalty of imprisonment for a term of three to twelve years shall be imposed, depending upon the gravity of the offence." The signatories' retirement pensions and bodyguard rights were also annulled on April 5. |
(AS/VK)
