Turkey has detained ten retired admirals over their public criticism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ‘crazy’ Istanbul canal project, which will create a new waterway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, in addition to the existing Bosphorus Strait.
The arrest warrants issued on Monday came a day after a group of 104 former navy officials signed an open letter warning that the proposed channel could harm Turkish security through an 85-year international treaty , designed to prevent the militarization of the Black Sea.
The statement about which the plan was criticized was outraged by Turkish officials, who interpreted it as a direct challenge from the army to the civilian government, which is a ‘version of the coup d’etat’.
The Turkish military has long considered itself the guarantor of the country’s secular constitution, leading three coups between 1960 and 1980. Erdoğan’s government also survived a coup attempt in July 2016, which he blamed on followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gülen. Hundreds of thousands of military personnel, government officials, lawyers and academics have been fired or arrested over the past five years for being accused of links to the preacher.
“A group of retired soldiers put themselves in a ridiculous and miserable position with their declaration that the military reflects coup times,” presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın said on Twitter.
“The [group] must know that our esteemed nation and its representatives will never allow this mentality, ”he added.
Erdoğan’s toppers assistant, Fahrettin Altun, said: “Not only those who have signed but also those who encourage them will be held accountable.”
The chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara, according to the state news agency Anadolu, has launched an investigation into the statement and four more people suspected of compiling the statement were called within the next three days to report to the police.
The proposed Istanbul Canal is the most ambitious of dozens that Erdoğan calls his ‘crazy’ projects – large-scale infrastructure development projects that have given Turkey’s economic boom and revolution during his 18 years in office.
Plans to launch a second Bosphorus were drawn up in 2011 and finally approved last month. The 28 km long (45 km) passage should be built west of the natural waterway to facilitate heavy traffic and reduce the risk of accidents in the existing sea route.
To date, Turkish officials have insisted that the 1936 Montreux Convention – which opened up the Bosphorus to civilian shipping under a certain scale and the fleet of Black Sea neighbors – would not apply to the new canal. not, which means that Turkey could in theory be able to allow vessels it wants – including American warships – passage to the Black Sea, which in effect militarizes the Russian-dominated waters.
The £ 9.5 billion channel plan was suspended in 2018 when the Turkish lira crashed. Its reintroduction has led critics to believe that it will wreak havoc in the area and that costs are likely to increase.
‘Montreux offered Turkey the opportunity to maintain its neutrality during World War II. We believe that any declarations and actions that could cause the Montreux Convention, an important treaty in terms of Turkey’s survival, to be discussed, should be avoided, ”reads the statement from retired naval personnel.
According to the news website Habertürk, the former admiral is suspected of conspiracy against state security and constitutional order.