'Montreux declaration': Former MPs announce support for retired admirals

The Third Bosphorus Bridge (Photo: AA/File)

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Some 96 former members of parliament have released a joint statement in support of the retired admirals who have been accused of "threatening the government with a coup" after releasing a declaration on the Montreux Convention on the Turkish Straits.

The retired admirals said the convention should be preserved and it was concerning that it was opened up for discussion through Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway parallel to the Bosphorus strait.

The former MPs' statement entitled "Canal İstanbul cannot be done! Montreux Convention cannot be opened up for discussion!" says the admirals, 10 of whom have been taken into custody now, exercised their freedom of expression.

Accusing the retired officers of being "putschists" amid attempts to destroy "the founding principles and philosophy of the republic" was regrettable, they said.

"Intimidating the public"

"First, 126 former ambassadors made an important statement about Canal İstanbul and the Montreux Convention. Then 103 retired admirals stated their opinions. What can be more natural than people, groups or institutions expressing their opinions when it comes to the country's interests?" says the statement. "This is both a right and a citizenship duty."

"The point that is reached in the debates on Canal İstanbul and the Montreux Convention, which were speeded up by the courage drawn from the president's termination of the İstanbul Convention in violation of the Constitution, made these statements necessary.

"We also don't find it right to insist on Canal İstanbul, which will serve the interest of the states that have various aims towards Turkey, and open up for discussion and downplay the importance of the Montreux Convention, which is the greatest diplomatic success of Atatürk's Turkey after the Lausanne Treaty and ensures our absolute sovereignty over the İstanbul-Çanakkale Straits and the Sea of Marmara.

"Adopting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his principles and the unchangeable articles of the Constitution and informing the public about subjects that concern the future of our country is a fundamental constitutional right. It is unacceptable that those who should be the guarantors of constitutional rights try to silence, intimidate and scare the public.

"We condemn this approach and these attempts and remind that we are still a state of law."

What happened?

At midnight on April 3, some 103 retired admirals released a declaration concerning the Montreux Convention, the international treaty regulating the status of the Turkish Straits.

"The opening of the Montreux Convention to debate as part of Canal İstanbul and the authority of the annulment of international treaties is met with concern," says the declaration.

It has been debated whether the Montreux Convention will be binding for Canal İstanbul, a planned artificial waterway parallel to the Bosphorus Strait. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan previously said it wouldn't be.

More recently, Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop said that the president can also withdraw the country from the Montreux Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights.

He later clarified his remarks, saying that he made a comment in terms of legal technicalities rather than the government's intentions.

"Being one of the most important waterways in the world, the Turkish Straits have been administered in accordance with multinational treaties throughout the history," says the declaration, noting that it gives Turkey full sovereignty over the straits and made it possible for Turkey to remain neutral in World War II.

"We are of the opinion that all kinds of statements and actions that can make the Montreux Convention, which holds a significant place in Turkey's survival, a subject of debate or put it onto the table should be avoided."

Religious groups

The declaration also mentions leaked photos showing rear admiral Mehmet Sarı in Islamic clothes in a home together with the members of who are said to be members of a pro-government religious cult.

The retired officers said the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) should maintain the Constitution's unchangeable values and the "modern path" drawn by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic.

"The TSK and our Naval Forces have suffered a very deliberate attack by FETÖ ["Fetullahist Terrorist Organization"] and sacrificed its valuable staff members to these treacherous conspiracies," says the statement, in reference to an Islamic group led by US-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, which was allied with the government until late 2013.

The group is held responsible for the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, and numerous officers have been dismissed from the army for being members of it since then.

"For these reasons, we condemn and oppose with all our existence the efforts to portray the TSK and our Naval forces as if they moved away from these values and the modern path drawn by Atatürk.

"Otherwise, the Republic of Turkey may face the risk and threat of experiencing depressing and the most dangerous incidents for its survival, which have examples in history."

Government reactions

Government officials strongly reacted to the declaration, which they said was an implicit coup threat.

Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun wrote on Twitter, "A few admirals came together and wrote a 'declaration.' And the fifth column elements got excited. Sit the hell down. That Turkey is now in the past! This nation showed friends and enemies on July 15 how it trampled those who desired a coup. Know your place!"

Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın also said on Twitter that the retired officers should "know their place."

Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop tweeted, "Expressing an opinion and is one thing, preparing a declaration resembling a coup is another."

Investigation

Prosecutors in Ankara opened an investigation into the declaration one day later and 10 retired officers were detained on April 5.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced that an ex officio investigation was launched into the declaration on charge of "making an agreement to commit a crime against the security of the state and the Constitutional order" as per the Article 316/1 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The Article 316/1 of the TCK says, "Where two or more persons make an agreement to commit any one of the offences listed in parts four and five of this chapter by using appropriate means, a penalty of imprisonment for a term of three to twelve years shall be imposed, depending upon the gravity of the offence."

The signatories' retirement pensions and bodyguard rights were also annulled on April 5.

(AS/VK)