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NEW EVIDENCE OF PREMEDITATION EMERGES IN ZIRVE MURDERS
Today's Zaman
July 24 2012
Turkey
An additional indictment in the trial of the accused in the 2007
murder of three employees of the Zirve Christian Publishing House
in Malatya introduces new evidence to back the prosecution's claims
that the murders were committed by a cell of the Ergenekon terrorist
network, and were premeditated.
Three missionaries, including one of German descent, were brutally
murdered in Malatya on April 18, 2007. The three were found with
their throats slit, having also been bound. The prosecution claims
that Ergenekon, which the prosecution has classified as a terrorist
group, painstakingly plotted to murder the three men, keeping the
detailed plot secret at every step.
The addendum indictment, written to complement the main indictment,
was accepted by the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court last week. The
761-page document claims that Ergenekon used the National Strategies
and Operations Department of Turkey (TUSHAD) -- an undercover military
unit -- and a man named İlker Cınar to study the conditions in
Malatya prior to the murders. The indictment states that TUSHAD
and Cınar relied on right-wing academics and media to start an
anti-minority campaign, and that the murders were committed after
Ergenekon was able to lay the groundwork through anti-Christian
propaganda. The indictment also states that the murder of a Catholic
priest in Trabzon in 2006 and the assassination of Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink on Jan. 19, 2007, were part of the same plot.
Prosecutors claim that the names of the three people murdered in the
Zirve massacre were mentioned on Oct. 1, 2005, at a symposium held in
Malatya. They also claim that Col. Mehmet Ulger, who was appointed to
head the Malatya Gendarmerie Command in January 2006, had previously
spoken of missionaries as a threat to national security at meetings
with the Malatya Police Department. The prosecution alleges that
prior to Ulger's appointment, the issue of Christian missionaries
had not come up in any of the security meetings.
The indictment further states that Ulger visited bookstores in Malatya,
warning them against distributing copies of the Bible.
According to the indictment, at a workshop against missionary
activities in January 2007, the action plan to kill the three men
was announced to local proxies and assignments were distributed.
Prosecutors say Cınar, formerly a priest himself, was assigned
the task of contributing to academic reports designed to generate
controversy about missionaries. Ruhi Abat, a research assistant at
İnönu University, was given a similar task. Gendarmerie Intelligence
Unit Director Haydar YeÅ~_il was tasked with coordinating the work
of anti-missionary plotters, and gendarmerie NCO Murat Gökturk was
ordered to gather intelligence. All those involved were given code
names to maintain secrecy.
The prosecution claims that when Cınar asked about the planned
action in Malatya he was told that the attack was being staged only
to intimidate missionaries and that no one would be killed. Further,
the murders were incited by the Ergenekon terrorist organization, the
Malatya cell of which was formed under orders from HurÅ~_it Tolon,
a former general and a key suspect in the main Ergenekon trial in
Ä°stanbul.
The additional indictment includes a detailed chronology of the
suspects' actions prior to the attack and adds new evidence to the
existing charges of attempting to obscure evidence after the murders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Today's Zaman
July 24 2012
Turkey
An additional indictment in the trial of the accused in the 2007
murder of three employees of the Zirve Christian Publishing House
in Malatya introduces new evidence to back the prosecution's claims
that the murders were committed by a cell of the Ergenekon terrorist
network, and were premeditated.
Three missionaries, including one of German descent, were brutally
murdered in Malatya on April 18, 2007. The three were found with
their throats slit, having also been bound. The prosecution claims
that Ergenekon, which the prosecution has classified as a terrorist
group, painstakingly plotted to murder the three men, keeping the
detailed plot secret at every step.
The addendum indictment, written to complement the main indictment,
was accepted by the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court last week. The
761-page document claims that Ergenekon used the National Strategies
and Operations Department of Turkey (TUSHAD) -- an undercover military
unit -- and a man named İlker Cınar to study the conditions in
Malatya prior to the murders. The indictment states that TUSHAD
and Cınar relied on right-wing academics and media to start an
anti-minority campaign, and that the murders were committed after
Ergenekon was able to lay the groundwork through anti-Christian
propaganda. The indictment also states that the murder of a Catholic
priest in Trabzon in 2006 and the assassination of Armenian-Turkish
journalist Hrant Dink on Jan. 19, 2007, were part of the same plot.
Prosecutors claim that the names of the three people murdered in the
Zirve massacre were mentioned on Oct. 1, 2005, at a symposium held in
Malatya. They also claim that Col. Mehmet Ulger, who was appointed to
head the Malatya Gendarmerie Command in January 2006, had previously
spoken of missionaries as a threat to national security at meetings
with the Malatya Police Department. The prosecution alleges that
prior to Ulger's appointment, the issue of Christian missionaries
had not come up in any of the security meetings.
The indictment further states that Ulger visited bookstores in Malatya,
warning them against distributing copies of the Bible.
According to the indictment, at a workshop against missionary
activities in January 2007, the action plan to kill the three men
was announced to local proxies and assignments were distributed.
Prosecutors say Cınar, formerly a priest himself, was assigned
the task of contributing to academic reports designed to generate
controversy about missionaries. Ruhi Abat, a research assistant at
İnönu University, was given a similar task. Gendarmerie Intelligence
Unit Director Haydar YeÅ~_il was tasked with coordinating the work
of anti-missionary plotters, and gendarmerie NCO Murat Gökturk was
ordered to gather intelligence. All those involved were given code
names to maintain secrecy.
The prosecution claims that when Cınar asked about the planned
action in Malatya he was told that the attack was being staged only
to intimidate missionaries and that no one would be killed. Further,
the murders were incited by the Ergenekon terrorist organization, the
Malatya cell of which was formed under orders from HurÅ~_it Tolon,
a former general and a key suspect in the main Ergenekon trial in
Ä°stanbul.
The additional indictment includes a detailed chronology of the
suspects' actions prior to the attack and adds new evidence to the
existing charges of attempting to obscure evidence after the murders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress