WordBulletin

World Bulletin / News Desk

Former Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller left for the Turkish capital from İstanbul on Tuesday after an Ankara prosecutor summoned her to give testimony as part of an ongoing investigation into the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military coup.

Ankara Public Prosecutor Mustafa Bilgili sent a notification to Çiller, inviting her to the Ankara Courthouse to testify in the case as a “victim.”

Çiller boarded a plane for Ankara on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to testify to the prosecutor on the same day.

Çiller is expected to tell the prosecutor her recollections of the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military coup, which is often referred to as a “postmodern” coup. She was chairwoman of the True Path Party (DYP) at the time.

The Turkish military overthrew a coalition government -- the Welfare Party (RP)-DYP government -- on Feb. 28, 1997, citing allegedly increasing fundamentalist activities in the country as the reason. Dozens of people have been as part of the Feb. 28 investigation. Those sent to jail include Gen. Çevik Bir, who is known to have played a major role in the 1997 coup, and retired Gen. Erol Özkasnak, who was the secretary-general of the General Staff at the time.

The military traditionally considers itself the guardian of the secular order in Turkey.