6-7 EYLÜL OLAYLARI

SUMMARYin serious newspapers but only in a boulevard newspaper called Istanbul-Ekspres, which was printedextra-ordinarily much on that specific day. The editor of this newspaper, Mithat Perin, alsoknown to have close connections with DP, was captured after the up-risings; however, he was releasedtwo hours afterwards with the personal order given by Prime Minister Menderes. The fact thatPerin had collaborated with MAH became obvious after he addressed a letter to that organisation in1960. In this letter, Perm enlisted the missions he had performed for the organisation, and he wasrequesting financial support for his newspaper Istanbul Ekspres.In an interview conducted with him, Gökşin Sipahioğlu, the redactor of Istanbul Ekspres atthat time, explained that attacks on 6 September 1955 were organised by MAH. A brigadier general,in his interview with a journalist over the structure and working principles of Special OperationsUnit in 1991 approved the account provided by Sipahioglu:"The attacks of 6-7 September were certainly planned by the Special Operations Unit. It was an extremelypremeditated operation and it accomplished its objective. Let me ask you; wasn't it an extraordinarilysuccessful action?"In the hearing on 24 January 1957, the judges of the Criminal Court No.l decided the releaseof the accused. The prosecutor demanded the release of defendants on these grounds: Cyprus isa Turkish island historically and it is only a couple of sea miles from the motherland. The provocativeevents against Turks in Greece and Cyprus caused up-setting events to break out. The prosecutor'sdemand towards acquittal was approved by the court through following corollary: It was impossiblefor the court to produce a fair verdict based on evidences provided by neither through policeinvestigations, nor the trials at the Court of Martial Law and the Civilian Court, and nor throughthe consistent testimonies of the witnesses that would imprison the accused. The alleged personsdid not have criminal intentions. And thereupon, the judges decided the acquittal of the accusedfrom entire cases with a unanimous vote.According to the reports prepared by German and British Consulate-Generals in Istanbul,from the government's side , at least President Celal Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Ministerof Interior Namik Gedik. Minister of Foreign Affairs Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and governor of IstanbulFahrettin Kerim Gökay partook in the preparation process of attacks; the aim was, first of all,to create a pressure over London Conference, and then to take the attention away from the domesticpolitical problems. Yet. another consensus arose among the foreign observers was that the pointwhere the events arrived at was also a great surprise for the members of the government themselves.After the coup-detat / military invention in May 1960, President Bayar, Prime Minister Menderes,Minister of Foreign Affairs Zorlu and Minister Köprülü were trialed at Military Court on YassiadaIsland due to the events on 6 September 1955 together with other accusations. During the caseabout 6 September 1955, the aforesaid politicians were accused of firstly violating constitutionallyensured Turkish citizenship rights of Greek-Orthodox, and secondly of promoting Turkish citizensinto demonstration and violence. Both cases at Istanbul and Yassıada Courts were provided evidencesthat the attacks had been prepared under the initiation of government, with the collaborationbetween secret service and DP administration, and through the mobilisation of various state-spon-211