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Ergenekon subgroup dealt big blow

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  • Ergenekon subgroup dealt big blow

    Ergenekon subgroup dealt big blow

    25.07.2009
    News
    EMRULLAH BAYRAK ANKARA


    http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-18 1951-ergenekon-subgroup-dealt-big-blow.html

    Turki sh police on Friday detained nearly 200 suspected members of an
    outlawed fundamentalist organization, Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of
    Liberation) in simultaneous raids in 23 provinces across Turkey.


    The detentions came as a serious blow to the Ergenekon terrorist
    organization, which is accused of planning a military coup against the
    government. Ergenekon is known to have close links to a number of
    outlawed groups, including the Turkish branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

    Yesterday's detentions were mainly in Konya, Kocaeli and
    Å=9Eanlıurfa, along with Ä°stanbul and Ankara. Police said they
    confiscated a number of documents linking the suspects to the
    fundamentalist group. Hizb ut-Tahrir is an extremist group seeking to
    reinstate the Islamic caliphate.

    The suspects were sent to the counterterrorism unit in Ankara's police
    department for interrogation. According to police sources, the
    organization was preparing for a number of terrorist attacks to
    heighten tension in the country. The operations came in the wake of a
    police investigation of more than six months.

    Some of the suspects shouted: `Allow us to tell the truth. Democracy
    will be abolished. Shariah rule will come,' as they were taken into
    custody.

    POLICE DETAIN NEARLY 200 SUSPECTS IN FUNDAMENTALIST, TERRORIST
    HIZB UT-TAHRIR SWEEP

    Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in 1953 in Jerusalem by Taqiuddin
    al-Nabhani, an Islamic scholar. Since then the organization has spread
    to more than 40 countries and by one estimate has around 1 million
    members. The close ties between Hizb ut-Tahrir and Ergenekon were
    exposed in the second Ergenekon indictment.. Dozens of Ergenekon
    suspects are currently standing trial, including retired and active
    duty military members, businessmen and journalists.

    According to the Ergenekon indictment, Ergenekon leaders used
    terrorist organizations in Turkey from all backgrounds, worldviews and
    political ideologies for their ultimate aim to create chaos in the
    country, which they hoped would make it easier to realize their
    ultimate goal of triggering a military intervention.

    The evidence suggests that the group had links with the terrorist
    Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the extreme-left Revolutionary
    People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), the fundamentalist
    organization Hizbullah, the ultranationalist Turkish Revenge Brigade
    (TÄ°T), the Turkish Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army (TÄ°KKO),
    the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) and the Hizb ut-Tahrir.

    Several other suspected members of Hizb ut-Tahrir have been arrested
    in the past across Turkey on charges of being members of an outlawed
    organization and planning bloody attacks against civilians.

    The group has been undergoing a restructuring for some time, which
    compelled police to closely monitor its suspected members. The Turkish
    branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir is mainly based in İstanbul's Bahçelievler
    district.

    Police said the group was planning to stage a large attack in
    Ä°stanbul on the anniversary of the abolishment of the caliphate. The
    Ottoman caliphate was abolished by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder
    of the modern Republic of Turkey, on March 3, 1924, following the
    establishment of a secular state.

    The group's members in Turkey reportedly paid frequent visits to
    Indonesia, where they attended seminaries and conferences on the
    group's structure and principles.
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