ISTANBUL – Two Turkish human rights organisations and an action group have filed a complaint at the Ankara prosecutor’s office against Kenan Evren, leader of the military coup in 1980. The retired general can be brought to trial since the Turkish people in a referendum yesterday approved of a package of constitutional changes. Complaints have also been filed against other high-ranking officers involved in the coup. Several Turkish media reported that Monday.
Kenan Evren is now 93 years old and lives as a free man in Marmaris, on Turkey’s West Coast. When last year it became clear that governing party AKP wanted to amend the constitution to enable the prosecution of coup perpetrators, he said he would rather kill himself than to appear before court. The story goes that he has a gun with one bullet for that very purpose. It is not known yet what the prosecutor will do with the complaint. Because of Evren’s advanced age prosecution is not certain.
The article that allows for prosecution of coup perpetrators was hardly disputed in the referendum: all parties in parliament supported the change.