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Other Misfire. The prosecution had done no better in attempting to prove that Bayar and Menderes had arranged to have a bomb planted near Ataturk's birthplace in the Greek city of Salonica in order to incite anti-Greek riots in Turkey in support of Turkish claims to Cyprus. The bombing touched off wild disorder in Istanbul, in which 73 Greek churches were destroyed and 4,000 Greek shops looted, with the loss of a vast quantity of irreplaceable religious art.
By arresting all the material witnesses, the new Turkish government had guaranteed there would be a minimum of evidence. A former concierge at the Turkish consulate in Salonica, who had confessed the bombing to Greek authorities, and a Turkish student who admitted being in on the plot both retracted their confessions, claimed their earlier admissions were obtained by force or trickery.
Shortly after the riots, Greek Orthodox Patriarch-Athenagoras had protested to Menderes that the violence seemed to be concerted and guided "by an unknown hand." On the witness stand, the patriarch admitted that he had no specific knowledge to back up his charge; he had gotten his information second hand. But two hours before the riots broke out, said Athenagoras, he had received a phone call from the governor of Istanbul, now one of the defendants, informing him, "There may be some demonstrations over Cyprus. But don't worry."
Wrecking Crews. More impressive was the testimony of Turkish General Arif Onat, who said he was appointed by Menderes after the riots to try to divert blame to anonymous "Communists." Said Onat: "I am fully convinced that the events were prearranged by the government. With my own eyes I saw looters being followed by the police, not to prevent their looting but to prevent outside interference with their actions." Onat said he also saw riot leaders holding lists of buildings to be destroyed and shouting instructions and encouragements to their wrecking crews.
At week's end the prosecution announced that it would skip over to evidence that officials were silent partners in firms receiving millions of dollars in government contracts. But all in all, it was a poor show. Said one courtroom observer, a Turkish newsman who had been haled into court on countless occasions for defying Menderes' oppressive press laws: "I fought Menderes, but not for this. If this is the best proof the government can produce, it would have been better to shoot the lot the morning of the revolution."