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ANKARA: Opposition Charges Ergenekon Is 'Revenge'

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  • ANKARA: Opposition Charges Ergenekon Is 'Revenge'

    OPPOSITION CHARGES ERGENEKON IS 'REVENGE'

    Hurriyet
    April 15 2009
    Turkey

    ANKARA - The latest wave of detentions in the Ergenekon investigation
    sparked harsh reactions yesterday from Turkey's opposition parties
    as they expressed their concern that the law was being abused for
    political gain.

    Addressing their parties' parliamentary group meetings yesterday,
    both Republican People's Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal and
    Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, leader Devlet Bahceli criticized
    the course of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.

    "The Ergenekon probe is a political move, not a juridical one. It is a
    case that is motivated by politicians and has political targets," said
    Baykal. "If there is such an organization, who founded and directed
    it? Today, more than 100 people were included in the probe. If it is
    an organization established against the ruling Justice and Development
    Party, or AKP, why is the name of the AKP not in the indictment?"

    According to Baykal, although no one knows exactly what the aim of
    the Ergenekon organization is, there has been an intention to expand
    the case to cover certain segments of society. The case has lost its
    juridical features and it expanded to cover many irrelevant figures,
    he said.

    Recalling that the case of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party,
    or PKK, was finalized within a year, Baykal said there had still
    been no indictment in the Ergenekon case, though the detentions
    continued. "There is a Rabbi [Tuncay Guney], secret witnesses
    and some telephone records. There are claims [made by Guney] under
    pressure. These are what the probe has been based on," he said. "The
    murder of the top judge of the Council of State and the Republican
    rallies are the Ergenekon activities aimed at toppling the government,
    according to the probe. They expect the court and the public to
    believe in this.

    Did common sense and rationality commit suicide?" Noting that it
    was not the duty of the prosecutor to make extra-judicial killings,
    Baykal said the Ergenekon case has been turned into a symbol of
    horror. He said no one knew why members of the Association in Support
    of Contemporary Living, or CYDD, and BaÅ~_kent University Rector
    Mehmet Haberal and other rectors were detained or why the house of
    CYDD Chairwoman Turkan Saylan was searched. The MHP's Bahceli said
    the country's laws were being abused for political purposes. "There
    are widespread concerns that the laws are being abused for political
    gain and used as a means of oppressing and deterring people," he said.

    In another meeting yesterday, Education Minister Huseyin Celik
    said CYDD Chairwoman Saylan was not subject to the Ergenekon probe
    as a result of her organization's educational activities or the
    scholarships it distributes to girls. "Some media institutions,
    however, relayed the issue as if those who support Republican values
    are being silenced. This is not acceptable," Celik said.
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