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Turkish prosecutor sacked after
accusations against general
20.4.2006
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ANKARA, April 20,
2006 (AFP) - A Turkish prosecutor who called
for a top general to be investigated for alleged
illegal actions in the fight against Kurdish rebels
was sacked Thursday for misconduct, the Anatolia
news agency reported.
Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya caused a storm last month
when he demanded an investigation against Army
Commander Yasar Buyukanit for suspected links with
rogue groups in the military seeking to stir
tensions in the mainly Kurdish southeast and derail
Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
The armed forces condemned the allegations against
Buyukanit as "ill-intentioned" and urged the
government to punish those behind "this onslaught...
aimed at wearing down the Turkish armed forces."
The justice ministry subsequently launched an
investigation and inspectors concluded that the
prosecutor went beyond the limits of his
jurisdiction.
A board of senior jurists Thursday overwhelmingly
voted to expel Sarikaya from the profession and to
suspend him until his expulsion becomes definite,
Anatolia said. Sarikaya has the right to appeal the
decision.
The affair has underscored tensions between the
governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which
has its roots in a now-banned Islamist party, and
the army, self-appointed guardians of the secular
system.
The government has sought to distance itself from
the prosecutor.
The accusations were part of an indictment against
two soldiers and a Kurdish informer over the
November 9, 2005, bombing of a bookstore in the town
of Semdinli.
The attack on the shop, owned by a former Kurdish
guerrilla, killed one person and sparked deadly
Kurdish riots.
The bombing raised questions over whether Turkey had
succeeded in purging rogue elements from the
security forces.
These elements were accused of summary executions,
extortion, kidnappings and drug smuggling in the
mainly Kurdish southeast in the 1990s, the peak
years of a separatist Kurdish rebellion there.
The indictment sought life terms for the two
soldiers and the informer for the attack, which it
described as a provocative act to stir unrest in the
southeast, discredit the government and undermine
Turkey's bid to join the EU.
AFP
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