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ERGENEKON PLANNED PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION
Today's Zaman
April 4 2009
Turkey
Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization, of which 152
suspected members currently are standing trial for plotting to
overthrow the government, planned to assassinate President Abdullah
Gul, an additional indictment accepted by the Ä°stanbul 13th Higher
Criminal Court hearing the case claims.
According to the indictment, the organization was planning to
assassinate President Gul during the official ceremony to celebrate
Aug. 30 (Victory Day). The prosecution says it has voice recordings
of phone conversations between the suspects on the day of last
year's Aug. 30 ceremonies. The prosecution claims that some of the
lieutenants, who are currently under arrest as suspects, were planning
to use the tanks in the parade to bring their plan to completion,
not unlike the 1981 killing of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who
was assassinated during an annual victory parade in Cairo.
The indictment also makes detailed accusations against suspects
Kemal Aydın and Neriman Aydın, whose links to some army officers on
active duty have been established. The two Aydıns and another suspect
named DurmuÅ~_ Ali Ozoglu were recruiting young army officers and War
Academy cadets, the indictment claims. Lieutenants Mehmet Ali Celebi
and Noyan CahkuÅ~_u, who are currently also in jail as suspects,
are being accused of obtaining intelligence about the War Academy
and its decisions. The prosecution also says that the senior members
of Ergenekon greatly appreciated the work of the two lieutenants,
who were given special GSM phone lines and who communicated with
Ergenekon through civilians to avoid arrest.
The indictment also claims that the suspects carried out their
activities inside the War Academy in the form of groups organized
as cells, ensuring that none of the organization members knew each
other. The Aydın siblings and Ozoglu directed the recruits to first
become cadets and then infiltrate the Special Forces Command.
Lieutenant colonel testifies to civilian prosecutor
In related developments Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, who fled
during a wave of operations into Ergenekon in January but later
surrendered, testified yesterday at the Ä°stanbul courthouse in
BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_. Dönmez was taken back to the Hasdal Military Prison,
where he has been held since his arrest in January. Security forces
found various arms caches during excavations based on sketches and
maps found in Dönmez's house.
Ergenekon suspect hails Cicek's remark about DTP
Kemal Kerincsiz, an Ergenekon suspect known for his ultra-nationalism
and the frequent complaints he filed against authors speaking
outside the official line, has praised State Minister and Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, whose remarks about the success of the
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in last week's municipal
elections drew ire from most segments of society as well as from the
prime minister himself.
Kerincsiz, delivering his defense testimony in the 69th hearing of the
Ergenekon trial yesterday, referred to Cicek as "a minister with common
sense," referring to Cicek's remark that the DTP's success in Igdır,
Turkey's easternmost province located next to the Armenian border,
was an issue of national security.
He also noted that Cicek had stopped a university from organizing a
conference on the Armenian question in 2005, saying the conference was
tantamount to "stabbing the Turkish nation in the back." Kerincsiz
also praised this remark, adding: "That was right. The things he's
said in the recent past are very important. This last remark [on
the DTP's election victory] is also very important. These are very
correct observations. He is a minister with extreme common sense. I
would like to congratulate him for what he's said."
Today's Zaman
April 4 2009
Turkey
Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization, of which 152
suspected members currently are standing trial for plotting to
overthrow the government, planned to assassinate President Abdullah
Gul, an additional indictment accepted by the Ä°stanbul 13th Higher
Criminal Court hearing the case claims.
According to the indictment, the organization was planning to
assassinate President Gul during the official ceremony to celebrate
Aug. 30 (Victory Day). The prosecution says it has voice recordings
of phone conversations between the suspects on the day of last
year's Aug. 30 ceremonies. The prosecution claims that some of the
lieutenants, who are currently under arrest as suspects, were planning
to use the tanks in the parade to bring their plan to completion,
not unlike the 1981 killing of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who
was assassinated during an annual victory parade in Cairo.
The indictment also makes detailed accusations against suspects
Kemal Aydın and Neriman Aydın, whose links to some army officers on
active duty have been established. The two Aydıns and another suspect
named DurmuÅ~_ Ali Ozoglu were recruiting young army officers and War
Academy cadets, the indictment claims. Lieutenants Mehmet Ali Celebi
and Noyan CahkuÅ~_u, who are currently also in jail as suspects,
are being accused of obtaining intelligence about the War Academy
and its decisions. The prosecution also says that the senior members
of Ergenekon greatly appreciated the work of the two lieutenants,
who were given special GSM phone lines and who communicated with
Ergenekon through civilians to avoid arrest.
The indictment also claims that the suspects carried out their
activities inside the War Academy in the form of groups organized
as cells, ensuring that none of the organization members knew each
other. The Aydın siblings and Ozoglu directed the recruits to first
become cadets and then infiltrate the Special Forces Command.
Lieutenant colonel testifies to civilian prosecutor
In related developments Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, who fled
during a wave of operations into Ergenekon in January but later
surrendered, testified yesterday at the Ä°stanbul courthouse in
BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_. Dönmez was taken back to the Hasdal Military Prison,
where he has been held since his arrest in January. Security forces
found various arms caches during excavations based on sketches and
maps found in Dönmez's house.
Ergenekon suspect hails Cicek's remark about DTP
Kemal Kerincsiz, an Ergenekon suspect known for his ultra-nationalism
and the frequent complaints he filed against authors speaking
outside the official line, has praised State Minister and Deputy
Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, whose remarks about the success of the
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in last week's municipal
elections drew ire from most segments of society as well as from the
prime minister himself.
Kerincsiz, delivering his defense testimony in the 69th hearing of the
Ergenekon trial yesterday, referred to Cicek as "a minister with common
sense," referring to Cicek's remark that the DTP's success in Igdır,
Turkey's easternmost province located next to the Armenian border,
was an issue of national security.
He also noted that Cicek had stopped a university from organizing a
conference on the Armenian question in 2005, saying the conference was
tantamount to "stabbing the Turkish nation in the back." Kerincsiz
also praised this remark, adding: "That was right. The things he's
said in the recent past are very important. This last remark [on
the DTP's election victory] is also very important. These are very
correct observations. He is a minister with extreme common sense. I
would like to congratulate him for what he's said."