The Ankara public prosecutor's office demanded up to 12 years sentence in prison for 12 defendants, including Atilla Kıyat, Ergün Mengi and Türker Ertürk, and demanded acquittal for the remaining 91 people.
About 103 retired admirals signed the statement known as the "Admirals' Montreux Convention," the prosecutor presented his opinion on the merits of the case, brought with the request of up to 12 years imprisonment for "contracting to commit a crime against the security of the state or the constitutional order."
At the Ankara High Criminal Court some pending defendants and their lawyers attended the hearing. The President of the Court promised the prosecutor to explain his opinion on the merits after reading the documents in the case file.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants Alper Çetin Tezeren, Atilla Kezek, Atilla Kıyat, Arif Vehbi Alpman, Ergün Mengi, Işık Biren, İlker Güven, Mustafa Özbey, Namık Kemal Çalışkan, Osman Metin Açımuz, Ramazan Cem Gürdeniz and Türker Ertürk created a WhatsApp group named ADMEK-2 where they contributed, from sharing the draft to the declaration and agreed to undersign agreement.
The defendants in question were targeting the elected government. In the statement, the prosecutor pointed out that they agreed to mobilize the active and active military personnel and the opposition sections of the society together. He emphasized that the Montreux emphasis was also used as a "tool," and that this was understood from the correspondence of the defendants in the WhatsApp group.
In his opinion, the prosecutor shared the statement prepared with the common participation of the defendants with the public. He stated that they aim to act outside the command in the Turkish Armed Forces in order to take action against the legitimate power and to prevent the government from doing its duties partially or completely.
Accordingly, the prosecutor, the defendants, Alper Çetin Tezeren, Atilla Kezek, Atilla Kıyat, Arif Vehbi Alpman, Ergün Mengi, Işık Biren, İlker Güven, Mustafa Özbey, Namık Kemal Çalışkan, Osman Metin Açımuz, Ramazan Cem Gürdeniz and Türker committed the crime of "against the security of the state or the constitutional order" and demanded that they be sentenced to imprisonment from three to 12 years.
The prosecutor demanded acquittal separately for these defendants, stating that 91 defendants, including former Navy Commanders Bülent Bostanoğlu, Eşref Oğuz Yiğit and Murat Bilgel, had no intentions for the alleged crime, and that they did not have the will to participate in the actions of the 12 people who were asked to be punished.
Later, the attorneys spoke up and requested more time to counter the substantive opinion. Considering the demands appropriate, the court adjourned the hearing till Dec. 12, 2022.
The Case history
The "Montreux convention" that the issue of certain retired admirals was the subject of an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on April 4, 2021. Indictments for 103 individuals were submitted by the Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor on Dec. 6, 2021, calling for jail terms ranging from three to 12 years for "contracting to commit crimes against the security of the state or the constitutional order." In this case all of the defendants are currently on trial at the High Criminal Court.