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ERGENEKON CONVICTION: TURKISH JOURNALIST SEEKS GERMAN PROTECTION
By Daniel Steinvorth
Photo Gallery: Convicted Despite a Lack of Evidence Photos DPA
Defendants in Turkey's Ergenekon trial stand accused of participating
in a massive conspiracy to overthrow the government. The case has
drawn the ire of observers -- and now one convicted journalist is
seeking safe harbor in Germany.
Adnan Turkkan has been a convicted terrorist for two days now. The
young Turk, 30 years old -- and dressed as if he's getting ready
to go to the office in a blue shirt and gray suit -- is sitting in a
basement apartment located near the central train station in Frankfurt,
Germany. He's trying to decide whether to return to his home country
-- or to apply for political asylum in Germany. As of Wednesday of
last week, he was still uncertain.
On August 5, a special court convicted Turkkan, a student leader
and the editor in chief of the television station Ulusal Kanal TV,
in absentia of membership in the "armed terror organization Ergenekon."
Turkkan first learned of his conviction through newspaper and
television reports. He suddenly found himself an enemy of state.
"Ten years long," he says ponderingly. "Because I allegedly committed
a so-called terrorist crime, they have sentenced me to 10 and a
half years in prison. But I would really like to know what kind of
crime they claim I have committed." The ruling stated that Turkkan's
sentence cannot be commuted because of his "negative behavior" during
the trial. It also described him as a repeat offender and stated that
"his freedom of movement would be controlled."
Turkkan had flown from Istanbul to Frankfurt together with two
journalists friends who were also charged in the case. The three
Turkish journalists maintain that they came to Germany to participate
in a conference and not to flee their country. Still, they were likely
aware that they faced potential sentences involving years behind bars.
The court also convicted colleagues Mehmet Sabuncu and Mehmet Bozkurt
Monday, August 5, on charges of alleged membership in the secret
Ergenekon alliance -- with one being sentenced to six years behind
bars and the other to nine years in prison. The convictions must still
be upheld by Turkey's highest court, and the two journalists say they
want to return to Turkey for the time being. However, an arrest order
is in place for Turkkan, and he says he wants to remain in Germany.
'Trial of the Century'
The men represent three of 275 people who have been charged in the
most spectacular and controversial trial in the recent history of the
Turkish judicial system. Some 21 accused have been acquitted, but the
rest have been convicted and slapped with largely draconian sentences.
The court sentenced the former Turkish military chief of staff,
retired General Ilker Basbug, to life imprisonment. And Mustafa Balbay,
a columnist for the secularist daily Cumhuriyet, was handed down a
sentence of 34 years and eight months in prison.
When the legal proceedings began in the summer of 2008, the Turkish
press described them as the "trial of the century." At the time,
public prosecutors filed charges against dozens of high-ranking former
military officers, business people, demimonde characters, politicians,
lawyers and academics whom they alleged had established a network
of nationalists called Ergenekon. According to Turkish mythology,
Ergenekon is a legendary valley in Central Asia where the original
Turkic tribes are thought to have lived in the far distant past.
Prosecutors allege that the group had planned assassinations and
terrorist attacks, and that the army wanted to take advantage of the
ensuing chaos in order to intervene. Under the pretext of restoring
peace and order, it would then topple the Islamist-conservative
government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At first, many in Turkey believed the disclosures. In a country that
has experienced three military coups and numerous interventions by the
so-called "pashas" -- a reference to high-ranking Ottoman political
elites -- in politics, fears of a putsch still remain very deeply
ingrained. And people have known for years about secret connections
between the military, politicians and organized crime -- a so-called
"deep state" that manipulates Turkish politics from behind the scenes.
But just as widespread is a Turkish passion for conspiracy theories.
The new wave of arrests simultaneously nourished suspicions that
Erdogan was doing more than just trying to put a stop to the "deep
state": He also appeared to be trying to put his critics out of
commission.
A 'Witch Hunt'
Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has described the
Ergenekon proceedings as a "witch hunt" against political opponents.
Gareth Jenkins, a British expert on Turkey, says that while a few
among the defendants were doubtless involved in criminal activity, the
"majority of the accused ... appear to be guilty of nothing more than
holding strong secularist and ultranationalist views." He describes
the investigation as being "politically motivated."
That could well be the reason investigators began to pursue Adnan
Turkkan in 2008. On July 1 of that year, several armed police officers
with the anti-terror TEM unit stood before the 26-year-old's door
and led him away, justifying the detainment with the claim he was
suspected of "membership in a terrorist organization."
The student was then placed in investigative detention and
interrogated. Turkkan says the interrogations included questions
largely focused on "protests critical of the government" he had
allegedly helped organize. Turkkan is one of the founders of the
Kemalist youth organization TGB, and has never sought to hide the fact
that he has little regard for Erdogan's governing Islamist Justice
and Development Party (AKP).
He was released four days later because of a lack of evidence, but
investigators still kept an eye on him, wiretapping his telephone and
confronting him later with the contents of his calls. "They twisted
every word and interpreted things in a way that suggested I was a
putschist," he claims.
He claims that during the legal proceedings -- which have taken place
behind closed doors and out of the public eye -- he only testified
one time. He says the justices only asked questions about his personal
data. Then Turkkan read a statement. That was it. The statement made
by the public prosecutor is a jumble of ominous allegations. It claims,
for example, that suspicious business cards and credit cards were found
during searches of Turkkan's belongings, that he worked together with
radical parties and that he made calls for protests to be conducted
against the government. Stringing those patchy details together,
they concluded he wanted to establish some kind of Ergenekon youth
organization.
Sabuncu and Bozkurt are also still waiting for evidence relating to the
allegations against them to be presented. It appears that suspicions
against the journalists are based on the fact that they both work for
the leftist-nationalist daily Aydinlik. The newspaper had published
excerpts of a compromising 2004 telephone call between Erdogan and
the former president of North Cyprus in which they discussed the
removal of a rival from power. "This conversation was played for all
the newspapers in Turkey, but we were the only ones who published it
verbatim," Bozkurt says.
Contradictions in the Investigation
Turkey observer Jenkins sees many contradictions in the Ergenekon
trial. In a critical report he published in 2009 about the
investigation, he writes that "no evidence" has emerged of the
existence of a secret organization. There are merely statements from
secret witnesses. It also remains unclear who had authored documents
cited in the case. And even the transcripts of wiretaps lacked evidence
suggesting Ergenekon's existence.
Jenkins finds it particularly odd that virtually every illegal
organization known to exist in Turkey is named in the 4,000-page
indictment. Going by the charges, one would be led to believe that
Ergenekon enjoys ties to the Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Worker's
Party (PKK), the Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front
(DHKP-C) and the Turkish wing of Hezbollah.
Still, Turkkan is convinced the Ergenekon rulings will have a positive
effect in the end. He says they reveal the Turkish government's true
authoritarian face and that they may spark a new wave of protest
actions. He thinks the situation could heat up this autumn.
To play it safe, however, he wants to continue in providing resistance
against Erdogan from afar in Germany. "There is great potential for
opposition here," he says. "Many young German-Turks have a problem
with the Erdogan government."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/journalist-convicted-in-ergenekon-trial-seeks-protection-in-germany-a-916086.html#ref=nl-international
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Daniel Steinvorth
Photo Gallery: Convicted Despite a Lack of Evidence Photos DPA
Defendants in Turkey's Ergenekon trial stand accused of participating
in a massive conspiracy to overthrow the government. The case has
drawn the ire of observers -- and now one convicted journalist is
seeking safe harbor in Germany.
Adnan Turkkan has been a convicted terrorist for two days now. The
young Turk, 30 years old -- and dressed as if he's getting ready
to go to the office in a blue shirt and gray suit -- is sitting in a
basement apartment located near the central train station in Frankfurt,
Germany. He's trying to decide whether to return to his home country
-- or to apply for political asylum in Germany. As of Wednesday of
last week, he was still uncertain.
On August 5, a special court convicted Turkkan, a student leader
and the editor in chief of the television station Ulusal Kanal TV,
in absentia of membership in the "armed terror organization Ergenekon."
Turkkan first learned of his conviction through newspaper and
television reports. He suddenly found himself an enemy of state.
"Ten years long," he says ponderingly. "Because I allegedly committed
a so-called terrorist crime, they have sentenced me to 10 and a
half years in prison. But I would really like to know what kind of
crime they claim I have committed." The ruling stated that Turkkan's
sentence cannot be commuted because of his "negative behavior" during
the trial. It also described him as a repeat offender and stated that
"his freedom of movement would be controlled."
Turkkan had flown from Istanbul to Frankfurt together with two
journalists friends who were also charged in the case. The three
Turkish journalists maintain that they came to Germany to participate
in a conference and not to flee their country. Still, they were likely
aware that they faced potential sentences involving years behind bars.
The court also convicted colleagues Mehmet Sabuncu and Mehmet Bozkurt
Monday, August 5, on charges of alleged membership in the secret
Ergenekon alliance -- with one being sentenced to six years behind
bars and the other to nine years in prison. The convictions must still
be upheld by Turkey's highest court, and the two journalists say they
want to return to Turkey for the time being. However, an arrest order
is in place for Turkkan, and he says he wants to remain in Germany.
'Trial of the Century'
The men represent three of 275 people who have been charged in the
most spectacular and controversial trial in the recent history of the
Turkish judicial system. Some 21 accused have been acquitted, but the
rest have been convicted and slapped with largely draconian sentences.
The court sentenced the former Turkish military chief of staff,
retired General Ilker Basbug, to life imprisonment. And Mustafa Balbay,
a columnist for the secularist daily Cumhuriyet, was handed down a
sentence of 34 years and eight months in prison.
When the legal proceedings began in the summer of 2008, the Turkish
press described them as the "trial of the century." At the time,
public prosecutors filed charges against dozens of high-ranking former
military officers, business people, demimonde characters, politicians,
lawyers and academics whom they alleged had established a network
of nationalists called Ergenekon. According to Turkish mythology,
Ergenekon is a legendary valley in Central Asia where the original
Turkic tribes are thought to have lived in the far distant past.
Prosecutors allege that the group had planned assassinations and
terrorist attacks, and that the army wanted to take advantage of the
ensuing chaos in order to intervene. Under the pretext of restoring
peace and order, it would then topple the Islamist-conservative
government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At first, many in Turkey believed the disclosures. In a country that
has experienced three military coups and numerous interventions by the
so-called "pashas" -- a reference to high-ranking Ottoman political
elites -- in politics, fears of a putsch still remain very deeply
ingrained. And people have known for years about secret connections
between the military, politicians and organized crime -- a so-called
"deep state" that manipulates Turkish politics from behind the scenes.
But just as widespread is a Turkish passion for conspiracy theories.
The new wave of arrests simultaneously nourished suspicions that
Erdogan was doing more than just trying to put a stop to the "deep
state": He also appeared to be trying to put his critics out of
commission.
A 'Witch Hunt'
Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has described the
Ergenekon proceedings as a "witch hunt" against political opponents.
Gareth Jenkins, a British expert on Turkey, says that while a few
among the defendants were doubtless involved in criminal activity, the
"majority of the accused ... appear to be guilty of nothing more than
holding strong secularist and ultranationalist views." He describes
the investigation as being "politically motivated."
That could well be the reason investigators began to pursue Adnan
Turkkan in 2008. On July 1 of that year, several armed police officers
with the anti-terror TEM unit stood before the 26-year-old's door
and led him away, justifying the detainment with the claim he was
suspected of "membership in a terrorist organization."
The student was then placed in investigative detention and
interrogated. Turkkan says the interrogations included questions
largely focused on "protests critical of the government" he had
allegedly helped organize. Turkkan is one of the founders of the
Kemalist youth organization TGB, and has never sought to hide the fact
that he has little regard for Erdogan's governing Islamist Justice
and Development Party (AKP).
He was released four days later because of a lack of evidence, but
investigators still kept an eye on him, wiretapping his telephone and
confronting him later with the contents of his calls. "They twisted
every word and interpreted things in a way that suggested I was a
putschist," he claims.
He claims that during the legal proceedings -- which have taken place
behind closed doors and out of the public eye -- he only testified
one time. He says the justices only asked questions about his personal
data. Then Turkkan read a statement. That was it. The statement made
by the public prosecutor is a jumble of ominous allegations. It claims,
for example, that suspicious business cards and credit cards were found
during searches of Turkkan's belongings, that he worked together with
radical parties and that he made calls for protests to be conducted
against the government. Stringing those patchy details together,
they concluded he wanted to establish some kind of Ergenekon youth
organization.
Sabuncu and Bozkurt are also still waiting for evidence relating to the
allegations against them to be presented. It appears that suspicions
against the journalists are based on the fact that they both work for
the leftist-nationalist daily Aydinlik. The newspaper had published
excerpts of a compromising 2004 telephone call between Erdogan and
the former president of North Cyprus in which they discussed the
removal of a rival from power. "This conversation was played for all
the newspapers in Turkey, but we were the only ones who published it
verbatim," Bozkurt says.
Contradictions in the Investigation
Turkey observer Jenkins sees many contradictions in the Ergenekon
trial. In a critical report he published in 2009 about the
investigation, he writes that "no evidence" has emerged of the
existence of a secret organization. There are merely statements from
secret witnesses. It also remains unclear who had authored documents
cited in the case. And even the transcripts of wiretaps lacked evidence
suggesting Ergenekon's existence.
Jenkins finds it particularly odd that virtually every illegal
organization known to exist in Turkey is named in the 4,000-page
indictment. Going by the charges, one would be led to believe that
Ergenekon enjoys ties to the Kurdish separatist Kurdistan Worker's
Party (PKK), the Marxist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front
(DHKP-C) and the Turkish wing of Hezbollah.
Still, Turkkan is convinced the Ergenekon rulings will have a positive
effect in the end. He says they reveal the Turkish government's true
authoritarian face and that they may spark a new wave of protest
actions. He thinks the situation could heat up this autumn.
To play it safe, however, he wants to continue in providing resistance
against Erdogan from afar in Germany. "There is great potential for
opposition here," he says. "Many young German-Turks have a problem
with the Erdogan government."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/journalist-convicted-in-ergenekon-trial-seeks-protection-in-germany-a-916086.html#ref=nl-international
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress