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CHP DEPUTIES ATTEND ERGENEKON HEARING TO SUPPORT SUSPECTS
Today's Zaman
Sept 19 2011
Turkey
A group of Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies on Monday attended
a hearing of the second Ergenekon case in order to lend support to the
suspects, which include three CHP deputies suspected of membership in
Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow
the government.
Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court resumed the Ergenekon trial with
the 131st hearing attended by Mustafa Balbay, journalist Tuncay
Ozkan and Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, the former head of the National Police
Department's Special Operations Unit. Sixteen suspects, who have been
released pending trial, including CHP deputy Sinan Aygun, retired
Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon and journalists Yalcın Kucuk and Unal Ä°nanc,
also appeared in the courtroom.
A total of 21 CHP deputies, excluding the suspected deputies, showed
up at the trial. CHP parliamentary group deputy chairs Emine Ulker
Tarhan and Muharrem İnce as well as Mersin deputy İsa Gök also
attending the court hearing, watching the trial in the section where
lawyers are seated.
Judges cross-examined Oguz Bulut, the Ä°zmir provincial head of Ulku
Ocakları, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) youth organizations,
over his connection with the Ergenekon terrorist organization. Bulut
said he had not seen Ergenekon suspects Å~^ahin and Ersin Gönenci,
who allegedly carried out an assassination of an Armenian community
leader as part of Ergenekon network's activities, after he left
his post as the head of Sivas Ulku Ocakları in 2006. Rejecting the
charges of being a member of Ergenekon, Bulut said he only talks to
Å~^ahin on the phone on special occasions, such as holidays.
Former CHP provincial head reacts against numerous handovers of
Ä°stanbul chair Former head of the CHP's Ä°stanbul branch Å~^inasi
Oktem has reacted against the four-time handover of the CHP Ä°stanbul
provincial chair over the past 15 months. Having served as the CHP
Ä°stanbul head between 2002 and 2007, Oktem said he agrees with the
criticism of the handover of the chair and that it has turned into a
game. The appointments became part of the April 23, Children's Day,
in which young people symbolically took on significant political posts
for the occasion of the day. In an interview with Today's Zaman, Oktem
emphasized that the new provincial head, Oguz Kaan Salıcı, comes
from the Dec. 10 movement, which was launched by the Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DÄ°SK). While noting that the movement
had been established against the CHP, Oktem said: "These are attempts
to replace CHP members with individuals who were unsuccessful in their
movements and took shelter in the CHP. These people have nothing to
do with the past and the organizations of the CHP at all."
Today's Zaman
Sept 19 2011
Turkey
A group of Republican People's Party (CHP) deputies on Monday attended
a hearing of the second Ergenekon case in order to lend support to the
suspects, which include three CHP deputies suspected of membership in
Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow
the government.
Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court resumed the Ergenekon trial with
the 131st hearing attended by Mustafa Balbay, journalist Tuncay
Ozkan and Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, the former head of the National Police
Department's Special Operations Unit. Sixteen suspects, who have been
released pending trial, including CHP deputy Sinan Aygun, retired
Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon and journalists Yalcın Kucuk and Unal Ä°nanc,
also appeared in the courtroom.
A total of 21 CHP deputies, excluding the suspected deputies, showed
up at the trial. CHP parliamentary group deputy chairs Emine Ulker
Tarhan and Muharrem İnce as well as Mersin deputy İsa Gök also
attending the court hearing, watching the trial in the section where
lawyers are seated.
Judges cross-examined Oguz Bulut, the Ä°zmir provincial head of Ulku
Ocakları, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) youth organizations,
over his connection with the Ergenekon terrorist organization. Bulut
said he had not seen Ergenekon suspects Å~^ahin and Ersin Gönenci,
who allegedly carried out an assassination of an Armenian community
leader as part of Ergenekon network's activities, after he left
his post as the head of Sivas Ulku Ocakları in 2006. Rejecting the
charges of being a member of Ergenekon, Bulut said he only talks to
Å~^ahin on the phone on special occasions, such as holidays.
Former CHP provincial head reacts against numerous handovers of
Ä°stanbul chair Former head of the CHP's Ä°stanbul branch Å~^inasi
Oktem has reacted against the four-time handover of the CHP Ä°stanbul
provincial chair over the past 15 months. Having served as the CHP
Ä°stanbul head between 2002 and 2007, Oktem said he agrees with the
criticism of the handover of the chair and that it has turned into a
game. The appointments became part of the April 23, Children's Day,
in which young people symbolically took on significant political posts
for the occasion of the day. In an interview with Today's Zaman, Oktem
emphasized that the new provincial head, Oguz Kaan Salıcı, comes
from the Dec. 10 movement, which was launched by the Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DÄ°SK). While noting that the movement
had been established against the CHP, Oktem said: "These are attempts
to replace CHP members with individuals who were unsuccessful in their
movements and took shelter in the CHP. These people have nothing to
do with the past and the organizations of the CHP at all."