Former Chief of Staff says resigned due to pressures from gov't

Former chief of General Staff Gen. Işık Koşaner has said the reason behind his 2011 resignation was to avoid pressure from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to make him appoint and retire army officers who were, at the time, suspected of planning to overthrow the government. 

"Through Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) decisions, I was going to be forced to suspend all of them. This was not possible. If I had done it, I would have been part of this crime. We would have been complicit in the days that would have begun this calamity that we face today. I was not complicit in it, but I cannot say that I was successful in explaining it," said Koşaner as he testified on Oct. 26 in front of parliament's special commission to investigate the July 15 coup attempt. 

Koşaner said he was reluctant to be part of an alleged plot that would see a number of military officers' suspension from the army on charges that they were involved in an attempt to overthrow the AKP, an accusation which prompted lengthy prosecutions against soldiers, known today as the Ergenekon and "Balyoz" (Sledgehammer) cases. 

Referring to the cases, Koşaner said they were suspected of being a part of a plan to denigrate the Turkish Armed Forces and "suspend whoever they want from the army." 

"We know they were not guilty. But since the issues were carried to the judiciary, we did not have an opportunity to raise our voices because otherwise we would have been seen to be interfering against the judiciary," said Koşaner.

He also added that they had received information from the National Intelligence Agency and police concerning the army members who were suspected of having links with the Gülenists and that they were duly trying to sever these people's ties...