Turkish prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to six years for retired rear admiral Türker Ertürk over remarks he made before the 2023 elections in which he said the government would change “painfully or painlessly,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The indictment, drafted by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, accuses Ertürk of “making threats with the aim of causing fear and panic among the public through the press and public broadcasting” and seeks a sentence of between two and six years.
It has been submitted to a Bakırköy criminal court of first instance for review. The court must accept the indictment before a trial can begin.
Ertürk has been jailed pending trial since August 17, when a criminal magistrate judge ordered his arrest after an excerpt from a television appearance more than three years earlier resurfaced on social media.
The indictment cites an August 17 report by the Public Security Bureau of the İstanbul Police Department analyzing the video, which was originally posted on X on March 20, 2023, ahead of Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
“Look, the government is going to change now. Painfully or painlessly, the government is going to change. That is why everyone needs to come to their senses. You, me … everyone, of course, everyone,” Ertürk said in the video.
He said the Supreme Election Board should act lawfully, warning that Turkey could otherwise face difficulties and international measures affecting the public if the government could not be removed through democratic means.
According to the indictment, the host then asked, “Of course, they know there will be a price to pay, don’t they, sir?” The police report said Ertürk responded in the affirmative.
Prosecutors treated that response, together with his other remarks, as evidence supporting the threat allegation.
The indictment claims Ertürk threatened society by saying that the public, including members of the Supreme Election Board, would face difficulties if the government changed and that the Turkish people could be punished through international action if the government were not removed by democratic means.
Prosecutors said his comments and his affirmative response to the host, taken together, constituted the offense of threatening the public with the aim of causing fear and panic.
They also requested an increased sentence under Article 218 of the Turkish Penal Code because the alleged offense was committed through the press and public broadcasting.
The indictment additionally claimed that the availability of the video online made the alleged offense a continuing one, despite the fact that the comments were made in 2023.
According to the prosecution the allegedly unlawful situation continued because the video had not been deleted and remained available on news and social media platforms.
It said the continuing offense ended only when an order was issued for Ertürk’s detention, meaning that date should be considered the date of the alleged crime.
Ertürk has denied threatening anyone, saying the excerpts were taken out of context and that his remarks amounted to a political assessment.
He told prosecutors that he meant Turkey would continue to face problems unless the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was removed through elections.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan subsequently won the May 2023 presidential runoff with 52.2 percent of the vote, securing another five-year term.
The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched the investigation on its own initiative after the old video was recirculated on X. Ertürk was initially investigated on suspicion of both making threats intended to cause public fear and panic and incitement to commit a crime.
The judge later ordered him jailed pending trial on the threat allegation but not on the alleged incitement offense.
Ertürk’s reference to a change of government “painfully or painlessly” attracted attention because of its similarity to controversial remarks made in 1994 by former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan.
Speaking about the possible rise to power of his Islamist Welfare Party, Erbakan said the transition to what he called a “just order” was inevitable and that opponents would determine whether it would be “harsh or soft, bloody or bloodless.”
Turkey’s military forced Erbakan’s government from power in 1997 through a pressure campaign widely described as a “postmodern coup.”
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
