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SECRET WITNESS SAYS ERGENEKON SUSPECT HAD ROLE IN OKKAN ASSASSINATION
Today's Zaman
July 31 2012
Turkey
A secret witness who on Tuesday testified in court as part of a probe
into Ergenekon said retired Gen. Levent Ersöz, a key Ergenekon suspect
currently in jail, had played a role in the 2001 assassination of
Police Chief Gaffar Okkan.
Okkan was killed along with five police officers who were guarding
him on Jan. 24, 2001, in Diyarbakır. The assassination was attributed
to the Turkish Hizbullah, a religious extremist group.
The secret witness, codenamed İlkadım, or "first step," testified
to the Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is hearing the case
of Ergenekon, a shadowy crime network that has alleged links within
the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government. The
212th hearing of the trial was held on Tuesday.
The secret witness, who said he served as a village guard in
Å~^ırnak's Silopi district in 1993 where he witnessed many incidents,
said he met with Ersöz when Ersöz was a commander in Å~^ırnak and
that he had a role in Okkan's assassination.
"Ersöz once called for a secret assignment. He sent us to [Mardin's]
Nusaybin with military officers. A group of seven dressed in peshmerga
clothes and carrying arms came to us. They were fully equipped. We
went to Diyarbakır with them," he said.
The secret witness noted that those officers stood near a mosque
while he waited at a gas station in Diyarbakır.
"I did not see Okkan's vehicle coming or the clash. There was the
sound of explosion first and then gunshots. The clash lasted for five
to six minutes. We just brought them in a vehicle [the people wearing
peshmerga clothes]. I did not hear what they were talking about," he
said. The secret witness said he learned about Okkan's assassination
the next day.
"Following Okkan's killing, Ersöz became the regional commander of
Diyarbakır. Okkan knew the region very well. That's why they took
his life," he said.
İlkadım also claimed that jailed Ergenekon suspect retired
Maj. Mehmet Zekeriya Ozturk masterminded the killing of six people
in Å~^ırnak when he was commander there.
He said Ozturk ordered military officers to bring six people to him
following a clash with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
that resulted in the killing of several Turkish soldiers.
The secret witness said the six people, including a village guard of
Armenian origin, were killed at the order of Ozturk and that their
bodies were never found. The victims were described as PKK members,
he added.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman
July 31 2012
Turkey
A secret witness who on Tuesday testified in court as part of a probe
into Ergenekon said retired Gen. Levent Ersöz, a key Ergenekon suspect
currently in jail, had played a role in the 2001 assassination of
Police Chief Gaffar Okkan.
Okkan was killed along with five police officers who were guarding
him on Jan. 24, 2001, in Diyarbakır. The assassination was attributed
to the Turkish Hizbullah, a religious extremist group.
The secret witness, codenamed İlkadım, or "first step," testified
to the Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is hearing the case
of Ergenekon, a shadowy crime network that has alleged links within
the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government. The
212th hearing of the trial was held on Tuesday.
The secret witness, who said he served as a village guard in
Å~^ırnak's Silopi district in 1993 where he witnessed many incidents,
said he met with Ersöz when Ersöz was a commander in Å~^ırnak and
that he had a role in Okkan's assassination.
"Ersöz once called for a secret assignment. He sent us to [Mardin's]
Nusaybin with military officers. A group of seven dressed in peshmerga
clothes and carrying arms came to us. They were fully equipped. We
went to Diyarbakır with them," he said.
The secret witness noted that those officers stood near a mosque
while he waited at a gas station in Diyarbakır.
"I did not see Okkan's vehicle coming or the clash. There was the
sound of explosion first and then gunshots. The clash lasted for five
to six minutes. We just brought them in a vehicle [the people wearing
peshmerga clothes]. I did not hear what they were talking about," he
said. The secret witness said he learned about Okkan's assassination
the next day.
"Following Okkan's killing, Ersöz became the regional commander of
Diyarbakır. Okkan knew the region very well. That's why they took
his life," he said.
İlkadım also claimed that jailed Ergenekon suspect retired
Maj. Mehmet Zekeriya Ozturk masterminded the killing of six people
in Å~^ırnak when he was commander there.
He said Ozturk ordered military officers to bring six people to him
following a clash with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
that resulted in the killing of several Turkish soldiers.
The secret witness said the six people, including a village guard of
Armenian origin, were killed at the order of Ozturk and that their
bodies were never found. The victims were described as PKK members,
he added.
From: Baghdasarian