Prosecutor Huseyin Gorusen questioned retired Gen. Kenan Evren, who as military chief of staff led the 1980 coup and then led the country as president from 1982 to 1989. He was questioned at his home in Ankara due to health problems, Evren’s lawyer Omer Nihat Ozgun said.
The 93-year-old was initially hailed as a hero by many Turks because the coup stopped fighting between leftist and right-wing groups that had some people wondering whether Turkey was headed for a civil war. But he is remembered widely for the torture of suspected militants and their supporters and for introducing a constitution that restricted freedoms and formalized the military’s role in politics.
Monday’s questioning of Evren comes as the country’s government promises to rewrite the coup-era constitution ordered by Evren to make it more democratic if it wins a third term in office in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
It also comes as the judicial authorities pursue a series of trials of the suspected masterminds of more recent alleged coup plots, including hundreds of retired and active military officers. The government denies allegations that it is trying to silence critics.
“The military seized power based on its internal law (that empowers it to defend the nation) under the country’s conditions back then and amid the failure of constitutional institutions,” to curb violence, Ozgun quoted Evren as responding to one of 12 questions by prosecutors.
Ozgun, speaking to reporters outside Evren’s house after the questioning, refused to reveal other details of the interrogation but said Evren testified for about 2 1/2 hours.
Prosecutors will also question retired Gen. Tahsin Sahinkaya, chief of the country’s air force at the time of the 1980 coup, at a hospital in Istanbul on Wednesday, Ozgun said.
However, it is not clear whether the two can be tried for the coup and other crimes. Some legal experts say a statute of limitations on legal moves against the coup engineers expired. Supporters of prosecution, however, argue there should be no deadline for alleged crimes against humanity.
