Charges Leveled Against Bombing General
Tokat's revelations were made during an interview with the "Aktuel" weekly and reported in summary in the July 27 issue of Sabah newspaper after which several investigations were launched against him.
Chief of General Staff Military Chief Prosecutor senior Colonel Saim Ozturk has charged Tokat under article 95 of the Military Penal Code and he could be sentenced to 6 years imprisonment if found guilty of "attempting to erode the feeling of confidence in commanders" and "making statements on military matters without authorization".
Tokat's case will be heard at the Chief of General Staff Military Tribunal but as he has retired out of military service, the tribunal may decide to send the case file to the Ankara justice hall.
The military prosecutor's office has detached the investigation into whether retired General Tokat had indeed ordered bombing activities in the Southeast from the original case file.
According to a report filed by Ersan Atar in the mass circulation daily Sabah newspaper, the 4-page indictment against Tokat charged that his statements in the media "gave the impression that the Turkish Armed Forces were using the methods used by the terrorist organization".
The indictment said "if the remarks of the defendant were made by any other person, they may not have been relevant. But because the remarks were made y a person who has reached high ranks, this has been observed closely by the public opinion and increased their effectiveness. Even though it is evident that the remarks of the defendant cannot erode confidence in the commanders on duty within the Turkish Armed Forces, such statements can create negative effects on some people with bad intentions".
Rights Activists: He encouraged crime
The Sirnak and Diyarbakir prosecutors' offices in Southeast Turkey had previously opened investigations into Tokat's remarks.
Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER) together with the Diyarbakir Bar Association and the Patriotic Front Jurists Initiative had separately filed criminal complaints against the retired general.
Diyarbakir Bar Association Sezgin Tanrikulu had said Tokat's revelations were a self-confession and that he had directly committed the offences of threatening, influencing the judiciary and praising crime. In its complaint and application, the Bar Association had requested for an investigation to be launched into the general's past activities and other possible clandestine acts in the Southeast.
Human rights associations and the Bar Association not only want the full spectrum of Tokat's activities investigated but for him to be put on trial for human rights violations in the region based on his statements.
Tokat's Revelations
In the controversial Aktuel interview, retired General Tokat was speaking in relation to the controversial bookstore bombing in Semdinli by members of the security forces, which the general described as a "possibly clumsy" operation.
"In my time," the retired general said, "I also had them throw a few bombs to some critical points. These were empty places! My issue was to give a message".
Tokat said the message given through street bombings targeted civil servants and judges who were assigned to the region and the explosions occurred close to were they lived.
"Civil servants, judges that come from the West [of Turkey] don't understand the seriousness of the situation... when things became calmer, they started to take this business nor seriously... In consequence I had [bombs] thrown at two places close to their houses. After that they understood that they needed to be careful. One [act of] disaster is better than a thousand words of advice. This way I educated them," he said.
"You can't immediately evaluate this by saying throwing bombs is illegal. I might have saved the lives of those people. I did not tell them either. Now if you construe this as assassination, I'll laugh at that" he was quoted as further saying.(TK/II/YE)