Top body to permit prosecution of prosecutors, commanders involved in Syria-bound truck case

Turkey's top judicial body has decided to permit the prosecution of five prosecutors and three gendarmerie commanders involved in the halting of Syria-bound National Intelligence Organization (M?T) trucks in Turkey's south last year.

According to the decision by the 2nd Chamber of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) delivered on June 4, prosecutors Süleyman Ba?r?yan?k, Ahmet Karaca, Aziz Takç?, Özcan ?i?man and Ya?ar Kavalc?o?lu will first present their final defense and then be prosecuted. As a result of the decision, gendarmerie commanders Özkan Çokay, Erdal Y?lmaz and Kubilay Ayvaz can also now be prosecuted.

"It is beyond dispute that investigations which are conducted for other goals and without taking care of sense of justice ? will have a negative impact on social peace, serenity and confidence and will destroy confidence and respect for the judiciary," President Mehmet Y?lmaz of the 2nd Chamber of the HSYK said, apparently referring to what the government calls the "parallel state" of the Fethullah Gülen movement.

"In the recent past, we have all together seen, followed and taken lessons in investigations and cases - involving Ergenekon, Balyoz, Poyrazköy, ?zmir-Istanbul espionage, Hanefi Avc?, ?lhan Cihaner, Ahmet ??k and Nedim ?ener - what happened when a blind eye is turned to illegality and actions that are not aimed at the ideal of justice and that do not remain on legal ground," Y?lmaz said.

The HSYK's permission for prosecutions came amid heated debate about the trucks after daily Cumhuriyet published video footage and photographs on May 29 of gendarmerie forces discovering ammunition being carried from Turkey to Syria by M?T last year.

Earlier this week, lawyers for President Recep Tayyip...