Turkish court summons former top commander to testify over 2007 'e-memorandum'

Turkish prosecutors have summoned former chief of General Staff Gen. Ya?ar Büyükan?t to present his testimony in his capacity as a "suspect" as part of an investigation into the April 27, 2007, "e-memorandum" case.

The Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office sent an instruction to the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office to have Büyükan?t's testimony taken, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Dec. 4.

The instruction, which had "the e-memorandum" as an attachment, was signed by a prosecutor from the Bureau for Crimes Against the Constitutional Order. No charges have been directed against Büyükan?t yet and he was asked to present his "defense" in the instruction sent to Istanbul last week, the Anadolu Agency underlined, noting the former top commander was expected to give his testimony to the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office next week.

The "e-memorandum" posted on the military's website around midnight on April 27, 2007, was the first episode in a chain of events that plunged Turkey into political turmoil and forced early elections. In the statement, the army threatened to step in to protect Turkey's secular system. Hours later, the Turkish parliament held an inconclusive, first-round vote to elect a new president. At the time, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül was the sole candidate. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won comfortably and the new parliament elected Gül in August of that year.

At the time, Büyükan?t said he "personally wrote" the memorandum. The investigation by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office was launched in 2012 upon a complaint filed by the leader of the Justice Platform, Adem Çevik, who also filed complaints concerning the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup d'état and the "Feb. 28 process" that eventually...