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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 8 2009
Third indictment reveals appalling Ergenekon plots
The judges hearing the trial of Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged
with plotting to overthrow the government, last Wednesday accepted a
third indictment in the case.
In the indictment, prosecutors provide evidence that the gang was
plotting to kill some of Turkey's most respected public figures,
including minority leaders and famous writers.
The indictment strongly stresses for the first time that Ergenekon is
a terrorist organization in accordance with Articles 1, 3 and 4 of the
Law on the Fight Against Terrorism and Articles 220, 302, 314 and 316
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Ergenekon had not been labeled a
terrorist organization in the first two indictments. A countless
number of weapons, including hand grenades, guns, rifles, explosives,
Kalash-nikovs, Dragunov sniper rifles, thousands of cartridges,
flamethrowers, rocket launchers and even anti-tank weapons have been
found up to this point in the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon.
In the new document, the prosecution argues that Ergenekon devised
plots to assassinate dozens of people, including bureaucrats, judges,
journalists, politicians and writers. The assassination plots were
prepared in graphic detail, including the names of the would-be hit
men.
The third indictment in the Ergenekon case, which was accepted by
Ä°stanbul's 13th High Criminal Court on Wednesday, says many
assassinations previously thought unrelated to Ergenekon were the
result of the organization's work. The indictment claims that an
attack in Sivas in 1993 by a fundamentalist mob at a hotel where
visiting Alevi poets and intellectuals were staying was also
orchestrated by Ergenekon.
The indictment also includes a breakdown of the assassinations and
attacks planned for the future by the group, based on organizational
documents acquired during the investigation. According to this, the
group was planning to assassinate members of the higher judiciary,
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan and Minas Durmaz Güler, head
of the Sivas Armenian Community. Other targets of the group included
Ali Balkız, chairman of the Alevi-BektaÅ?i federation and
the federation's secretary-general, Kazım Genç, both
very important figures in the Alevi community. The prosecution also
claims that the group had plans to assassinate journalist and author
Fehmi Koru, Turkish Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk, Democratic
Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Türk, Diyarbakır Mayor
and DTP politician Osman Baydemir and DTP deputy Sebahat Tuncel. The
indictment also notes that Selim Akkurt, one of the hit men recruited
for these assassinations, was arrested shortly
after a conversation between him and Ergenekon suspect Fikri
KaradaÄ? was heard by police monitoring the conversations in
order to avoid an `unwanted incident.'
The assassinations were to be carried out through a structure
established by Ä°brahim Å?ahin, the founder and later
deputy chief of the National Police Department's Special Operations
Unit. The prosecution's alleges that Å?ahin worked to form a
structure called S-1, which would include teams of police officers
with experience in special operations and would act as death squads.
Two Ergenekon trials merged
Also in the past week, the court ruled to combine the second and third
trials launched in the investigation into Ergenekon. The new trial now
has a total of 108 defendants.
The second and third indictments focus on the prosecution's
allegations that a coup d'état was plotted against the
democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government. The first hearing on the merged trial is slated for
Sept. 7.
The court announced its decision to merge the two cases on Thursday
during a hearing of the trial based on the second indictment, which
indicts 56 defendants, including senior generals HurÅ?it Tolon
and Å?ener Eruygur. The decision effectively connects all
allegations that the organization actively tried to overthrow the
government during the 2003-2004 period.
The prosecution submitted the third indictment on July 20. The new
document is 1,454 pages long and indicts 52 people. The three
Ergenekon indictments come as part of an investigation that was
launched on June 12, 2007, after a house full of weapons and
ammunition was discovered in Ä°stanbul's Ã`mraniye district.
09 August 2009, Sunday
Aug 8 2009
Third indictment reveals appalling Ergenekon plots
The judges hearing the trial of Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged
with plotting to overthrow the government, last Wednesday accepted a
third indictment in the case.
In the indictment, prosecutors provide evidence that the gang was
plotting to kill some of Turkey's most respected public figures,
including minority leaders and famous writers.
The indictment strongly stresses for the first time that Ergenekon is
a terrorist organization in accordance with Articles 1, 3 and 4 of the
Law on the Fight Against Terrorism and Articles 220, 302, 314 and 316
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Ergenekon had not been labeled a
terrorist organization in the first two indictments. A countless
number of weapons, including hand grenades, guns, rifles, explosives,
Kalash-nikovs, Dragunov sniper rifles, thousands of cartridges,
flamethrowers, rocket launchers and even anti-tank weapons have been
found up to this point in the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon.
In the new document, the prosecution argues that Ergenekon devised
plots to assassinate dozens of people, including bureaucrats, judges,
journalists, politicians and writers. The assassination plots were
prepared in graphic detail, including the names of the would-be hit
men.
The third indictment in the Ergenekon case, which was accepted by
Ä°stanbul's 13th High Criminal Court on Wednesday, says many
assassinations previously thought unrelated to Ergenekon were the
result of the organization's work. The indictment claims that an
attack in Sivas in 1993 by a fundamentalist mob at a hotel where
visiting Alevi poets and intellectuals were staying was also
orchestrated by Ergenekon.
The indictment also includes a breakdown of the assassinations and
attacks planned for the future by the group, based on organizational
documents acquired during the investigation. According to this, the
group was planning to assassinate members of the higher judiciary,
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan and Minas Durmaz Güler, head
of the Sivas Armenian Community. Other targets of the group included
Ali Balkız, chairman of the Alevi-BektaÅ?i federation and
the federation's secretary-general, Kazım Genç, both
very important figures in the Alevi community. The prosecution also
claims that the group had plans to assassinate journalist and author
Fehmi Koru, Turkish Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk, Democratic
Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Türk, Diyarbakır Mayor
and DTP politician Osman Baydemir and DTP deputy Sebahat Tuncel. The
indictment also notes that Selim Akkurt, one of the hit men recruited
for these assassinations, was arrested shortly
after a conversation between him and Ergenekon suspect Fikri
KaradaÄ? was heard by police monitoring the conversations in
order to avoid an `unwanted incident.'
The assassinations were to be carried out through a structure
established by Ä°brahim Å?ahin, the founder and later
deputy chief of the National Police Department's Special Operations
Unit. The prosecution's alleges that Å?ahin worked to form a
structure called S-1, which would include teams of police officers
with experience in special operations and would act as death squads.
Two Ergenekon trials merged
Also in the past week, the court ruled to combine the second and third
trials launched in the investigation into Ergenekon. The new trial now
has a total of 108 defendants.
The second and third indictments focus on the prosecution's
allegations that a coup d'état was plotted against the
democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
government. The first hearing on the merged trial is slated for
Sept. 7.
The court announced its decision to merge the two cases on Thursday
during a hearing of the trial based on the second indictment, which
indicts 56 defendants, including senior generals HurÅ?it Tolon
and Å?ener Eruygur. The decision effectively connects all
allegations that the organization actively tried to overthrow the
government during the 2003-2004 period.
The prosecution submitted the third indictment on July 20. The new
document is 1,454 pages long and indicts 52 people. The three
Ergenekon indictments come as part of an investigation that was
launched on June 12, 2007, after a house full of weapons and
ammunition was discovered in Ä°stanbul's Ã`mraniye district.
09 August 2009, Sunday