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March 4th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Former Chief of General Staff retired General Yasar Buyukanit and his successor former General Ilker Basbug appeared before the 10th Istanbul High Criminal Court on Friday to testify in the Sledgehammer case.
Both of the men were generals at the time of the Sledgehammer military seminar and were summoned as witnesses since their signatures were on documents related to the seminar. General Bekir Kalyoncu, the current head of Turkey’s gendarmerie paramilitary police force, also appeared in court as a witness for the same reason.
Several hundred defendants sat in the courtroom. Buyukanit, 72, appeared to be in poor health, his hand shaking as he answered questions and at times he seemed as if he had not understood or heard questions.
Yet he was very clear that he knew nothing of any plan for a coup. “I did not hear of any such thing,” he told the four judges in the court.
Although Basbug had also been called as a witness on Friday it was not clear whether he would be questioned in the court session or if it would be left for another day.
Neither of the general are defendants in the Sledgehammer case, yet some 365 people alone are on trial in the Sledgehammer case 249 of whom are being held in jail.
Retired army lieutenant and now lawyer, Zafer Karslioglu sees the summoning of the two ex-chiefs of staff to give evidence as unprecedented.
“Turkey has seen few coups and not until now are high ranking officials being investigated… and they will be prosecuted accordingly. These cases are very important. Even if there is no punishment the process is very important,” the Turkish lawyer told Press TV.
The Turkish military has carried out four successful coups over the past 50 years and one-tenth of Turkey’s generals are currently behind bars over alleged coup plots.
Karslioglu, however, maintains that the relationship between the government and the military has improved.
“We are seeing some changes in the relationship between the government and the military. They are working together- not like before. The military society sees that coups are damaging to democracy and also hurt the army,” he said.
VG/JR
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