Ex-admirals attempted tutelage: Turkish vice president

ANKARA

Turkey’s vice president on Tuesday said Sunday’s statement by retired admirals amounted to tutelage – meaning an illicit attempt to dominate the nation’s elected leadership and national will – and was a preliminary statement for a coup.

"There is definitely an attack on the national will, an attack on the armed forces, the nation, and the commander in chief. We will not remain silent on this issue,” Fuat Oktay said during his visit in the capital Ankara to the headquarters of Anadolu Agency, which is marking its 101st anniversary.

If they find the opportunity, they could move onto the next step, he warned.

Oktay also said that nobody should downplay the significance of the statement, adding that neither Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) nor anyone else has the right to trivialize it.

Underlining that the statement was not about “freedom of expression,” he said that the country is doing what is necessary on both the organizers of the statement and its signatories.

“Each coup brought great costs to this country, and essentially great concessions had to be made afterward,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said later, referring to Turkey’s history of recurring and destructive coups.

Highlighting that these concessions led to obstacles for Turkey, Soylu said everyone should have zero tolerance for such thoughts and mentalities.

On Sunday, the ex-admirals posted an online statement urging the avoidance of any rhetoric or action that could make the Montreux Convention the subject of debate. Prosecutors in Ankara subsequently started an investigation into the men behind the statement.

The controversial statement also denounced alleged "efforts” to show the Turkish Armed Forces and the Naval Forces as departing from the path laid down by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

It also warned that Turkey could face “dangerous … events, risks, and threats to its survival, something which we know from our history."