Former PM Çiller Testifies In Feb. 28 Coup Trial

Former Prime Minister Tansu Çiller, Turkey's first and only female prime minister, arrived at the İstanbul Çağlayan Courthouse on Friday morning to testify as a plaintiff in the Feb. 28 coup trial.

Private security tried to prevent the press from covering Çiller's entrance to the courthouse.

The historic trial started in September 2013, implicating 103 suspects accused of attempting to overthrow a democratically elected government on Feb. 28, 1997. The infamous incident is popularly called Turkey's “postmodern coup.”

The coup took place when then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan resigned from office on June 18, 1997, under intense pressure from the Turkish military, handing over the Prime Ministry to his coalition partner Çiller. The coalition government of Çiller's True Path Party (DYP) and Necmettin Erbakan's Welfare Party (RP) only lasted a year.

Erbakan's resignation came after the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) issued a memorandum on Feb. 28, 1997, strongly criticizing the government led by the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP). The memorandum claimed that the government had failed to take necessary measures to fight what the army called “reactionaryism.” The National Security Council (MGK) made a total of 18 decisions during a meeting on Feb. 28 and presented them to Erbakan for approval. Erbakan was forced to sign the decisions.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)