Sergeants on Trial (Contd.)

Seven weeks ago, when Turkish police arrested four U.S. sergeants stationed at NATO's southeastern headquarters in Izmir for alleged currency violations, U.S. Consul in Izmir Donald B. Eddy publicly pooh-poohed reports that two of the sergeants had been tortured into making confessions. Informed that a senior U.S. officer in the NATO command had supported the brutality charges, Eddy firmly informed newsmen: "In my opinion it is impossible for a responsible American officer to make such a statement." Last week the Izmir public prosecutor's office formally charged Police Inspector Yilmaz Capin and Policeman Ilhan Suyolcu with mistreating the protesting sergeants during and after their arrest.

Oddly, this break in the case did the sergeants no immediate tangible good. At last week's session of their piecemeal trial --which has averaged one hearing every ten days--defense counsel requested that all but one of the sergeants be released on the ground that the evidence against them was not strong enough to warrant continued detention, particularly since much of had been supplied by Capin and Suyol-cu. Judge Celal Varol refused. He also refused to release the men into NATO ustody until the trial ends.

Banned by the court from discussion of the trial, Turkey's press last week dutifully made no direct reference to it. But in the newsmagazine Akis, which bitterly opposes the heavy-handed regime of Turkish Premier Adnan Menderes, there appeared, under the title "Ugly American," a feature story illustrated by a picture of career Diplomat Fletcher Warren. After deploring U.S. ambassadors who play footie with dictators, Akis recalled that Warren was U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela in the days of Dictator Perez Jimenez, concluded with the laconic statement that he is now Ambassador to Turkey.

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