The Washington Post published an oped by Dani shortly after the Sledgehammer verdict was announced. It begins:
After a patently sham trial, a Turkish court on Friday handed down lengthy jail sentences to more than 300 military officers convicted of planning a coup, code-named Sledgehammer, in 2003.
Turkey’s courts have been working overtime to throw government opponents of all political stripes behind bars. Since 2007, the government has run a series of trials against an alleged ultra-nationalist terrorist organization called Ergenekon, charging lawyers, politicians, academics, journalists and military officers with plotting to overthrow the government. In separate cases, thousands of Kurdish politicians and activists are on trial — nearly 1,000 among them detained — for alleged links with terrorist activities. Turkey holds more journalists in jail than China and Iran combined.
In terms of sheer drama, few match the Sledgehammer case. In a trial that began in 2010, 365 serving and retired high-ranking military officials — including my father-in-law, Çetin Dogan — and two civilians are charged with planning the coup. Prosecutors allege that the plotters planned to bomb mosques, down a Turkish fighter jet in a false-flag operation, take over hospitals and pharmacies, close nongovernmental organizations, arrest journalists and politicians, and ultimately appoint a handpicked cabinet.
Yet the “incriminating documents” the court relied on to issue Thursday’s verdict were forged and have been used to frame the defendants. American, German and Turkish forensic analysts hired by the defense have independently confirmed the forgery.
To read the rest, go here.
Balyoz Davası ve Gerçekler 
22 Eylül 2012 14:56
Bilimsel bir araştırma veya çalışmanın sonucunu yorumlarken, elinizdeki verileri görmezden gelerek, doğru sonuçlara değil de bariz yanlış sonuçlara varıyorsanız ancak bir kaç olasılık söz konusu olabilir;
– Çalışmayı finanse edenlerin tehdit veya baskısı söz konusudur
– Çalışmanın sonucundan ciddi bir çıkarınız söz konusudur
– Veya yorum ve analiz yapmaya yeterli IQ’ya sahip değilsinizdir.
Benim aklıma bundan ötesi gelmiyor.
23 Eylül 2012 01:21
A true story of 21st century Alfred Dreyfus case – Sledgehammer – for 365 military officers is going on in Turkey. Dani Rodrik, a modern-day Emile Zola, involved in this affair because one of them is his father-in-law. One must have Emile Zola courage to defend someone who is declared de facto guilty by the governing power and the media under its control. AKP government wouldn’t need false evidences if it only wants to prosecute real coup plotters, criminals. However, PM Erdogan cunningly incites false evidence production to incriminate then eliminate all sources of challenge to his power, such as military, judiciary, academics, journalists, political leaders, university students…
23 Eylül 2012 06:56
Arkadaşlar Yargıtay verilen cezaları bozacak ve bu arada insanlara biraz daha eziyet çektirip korku imparatorluklarını güçlendirecekler. Dün Tayyip Erdoğan bir konuşmasında padişahlığını da ilan etti! Herkese V for Vendetta filmini seyretmelerini öneriyorum. 2006 yapımı ama ben günümüzle ilgili pekçok ortak nokta buldum. Seyrettiyseniz bile bugün tekrar seyredin ve baskıyla, korkutarak insanları kontrol etmeye çalışanların sonunu görün. Tarihte de bunun yüzlerce örneği var.
23 Eylül 2012 23:05
Dear Mr Rodrik,
I wonder why you don’t put in your pieces penned for the US public, such as this contribution in Washington Post, the most salient interpretation of the events in your pro-military camp, as aired in the comments here: namely, it is the US administration that is behind all this, pulling the strings behind the AKP government and the judiciary in Turkey with a view to debilitating Turkey’s military prowess and clearing the way for the US operations in the region.
Regards,
Bahattin
24 Eylül 2012 02:07
Because probably and simply he doesn’t think so. And what/who is pro-military camp? Rodrik, Dogan, me, you?
Actually you can find quiet a lot of answers to your questions in the Wikileaks documents, namely information sent from US diplomats in Turkey to the states. I don’t know why but most of the generals who were tried in Balyoz Case were named in those documents as ‘not in our side’ with respect to engagement of Turkish forces in military operations in Iraq, purchase of large scale military equipments and weapons from US, seeking other alternatives than US/NATO such as Russia and China, etc. etc.
24 Eylül 2012 13:07
“The case is widely seen as the means by which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decapitated the military, a powerful institution that has long opposed Islamist forces in Turkish society.” Stating this, with no mention of the role of the military in the recent past of a country paralyzed via a series of military takeovers, is slightly “pro-military” in my view. Don’t you think? As for the US complicity in the trial, you, among the commentators, seem at least to share the view in this camp. I wonder, why not Mr Rodrik? Could it be that he would then lose all his credibility before the US public?
24 Eylül 2012 14:48
I don’t think so. Being a powerful institution opposing islamist forces doesn’t necessarily require seeking US after all setup/sham trials.
US public? Average US public doesn’t even now the capital of US, they probably would say NY instead of Washington D.C. AFAIK, Mr Rodrik lives in US, is a credible person among the academia, especially around the topics of economics and he is trying to bring this sham trial to the attention of his colleagues and other literate people. That’s it.
Furthermore, your analysis on my views is completely inaccurate. It’s similar to blaming you with being a fethullahist/sakirt. You choose.
24 Eylül 2012 15:16
Very sophisticated!