KurdistanObserver.com

Prosecutor Who Accused Turkish General Faces Probe

ANKARA, March 8, 2006 (AFP) - A prosecutor who accused Turkey's land forces commander of acting outside the law in the fight against separatist Kurdish rebels is to face a probe into his conduct, Justice Minister Cemel Cicek said Wednesday.

"I have given my approval for inspectors to carry out an inquiry," he told the Anatolia news agency, days after prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya announced his action against General Yasar Buyukanit.

The accusations were on the indictment of two soldiers and a Kurdish informer over the November 9 bombing of a bookstore in the town of Semdinli owned by a former Kurdish guerrilla, which claimed one life and sparked deadly Kurdish riots in the restive southeast.

The bombing raised questions of whether Turkey has succeeded in purging rogue elements from the security forces accused of summary executions, extortion, kidnappings and drug-smuggling in the southeast in the 1990s, the peak years of a separatist Kurdish rebellion there.

The European Union is closely watching the investigation as a test of the supremacy of law in Turkey, a candidate for membership of the bloc, where the army still wields immense influence.

The prosecutor, based in the eastern city of Van, accused Buyukanit and several subordinates of setting up a criminal organization and of abuse of power, according to the Turkish press.

The accusations, which relate to the 1990s when Buyukanit was a regional commander in the southeast, appeared to imply that he had a role in illegal groupings within the army also responsible for the Semdinli bombing.

The accusations were reportedly based on the testimony of a single person, a local businessman with a murky past.

The prosecutor also argued that Buyukanit attempted to influence the judiciary when he said after the blast in Semdinli that he knew one of the suspects as "a good guy."

He demanded that military prosecutors launch a probe into the general.

Newspapers quoted military sources as saying the prosecutor had abused his powers and the army might retaliate by filing a complaint against him to the justice ministry.

Buyukanit is perceived as a hawk in an army which remains a powerful force in Turkish politics and sees itself as a guardian of the mainly Muslim country's strictly secular system.

The army has several times clashed with the ruling Justice and Development Party, a conservative movement with Islamist roots.

It has been suggested that the accusations against Buyukanit might be aimed at discrediting the general just months before he is expected to take over as chief of staff.

The indictment also demands life imprisonment for two non-commissioned officers and a former Kurdish rebel who was acting as an informer for the soldiers.