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Turkish prosecutor risks sanctions in row
with army: report
29.3.2006
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ANKARA, (AFP)
- A Turkish prosecutor who called for a probe into a
top general for acting outside the law in the fight
against Kurdish rebels may face disciplinary
sanctions, Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday,
citing justice ministry inspectors.
Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya dropped a bombshell this
month when he demanded that land forces commander
Yasar Buyukanit be investigated for suspected links
with rogue groups in the army seeking to stir
tensions in the mainly Kurdish southeast and derail
Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
The affair underscored tensions between the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AKP), the offshoot of
a banned Islamist movement, and the influential
military, which has long held sway in Turkish
politics as a self-declared guardian of the Muslim
country's secular system.
The military condemned the allegations as
"intentional" and urged the government to punish
those behind "this onslaught... aimed at wearing
down the Turkish armed forces."
The opposition has charged that Sarikaya acted under
AKP influence in a bid to discredit the general
ahead of his expected promotion to chief of staff
this summer.
Justice ministry inspectors who were ordered to
probe the prosecutor concluded that he went beyond
the limits of his jurisdiction and demanded
disciplinary sanctions, Anatolia reported.
A board of senior jurists will now determine the
sanctions, which range from formal reprimand to
expulsion from the profession, it said.
The accusations against Buyukanit were part of an
indictment charging two soldiers and a Kurdish
informer over the November 9 bombing of a
Kurdish-owned bookstore.
The bombing, which took place in the town of
Semdinli, claimed one life and sparked deadly
Kurdish riots.
It also raised doubts about whether Turkey was
succeedeing in purging rogue elements from the
security forces accused of summary executions,
extortion and kidnappings in the southeast in the
1990s, the peak years of a separatist Kurdish
rebellion there.
The EU, which has long criticized army influence in
Turkish politics, is closely watching the affair as
a test of the supremacy of law in Turkey.
Sarikaya demanded life terms for the two soldiers
and the Kurdish informer for the bookstore bombing,
which he described as a provocation to stir unrest
among Kurds, discredit the government and undermine
Turkey's EU bid.
The chief of staff, whose permission is required for
the prosecution of senior officers, has rejected
Sarikaya's appeal for a probe into Buyukanit.
AFP
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