BOMB SEIZURES HIGHLIGHT NEED FOR RULE OF LAW TO BE ENFORCED

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
June 16 2007

The recent confiscation of hand grenades at a house in Ýstanbul’s
Umraniye district, with police taking into custody three suspects,
including retired noncommissioned officer Oktay Y, the provincial
chairman of the right-wing organization Kuvayi Milliye (National
Forces), has again raised the need for urgent action to be taken by
the government and the judiciary over gangs and other matters related
to the incidents.

The Umraniye incident has also hinted at a link with the bombing
staged against daily Cumhuriyet in May 2006 as the security for-ces
have been probing the link.

The serial number of the seized grenades and bombs made by the
state-owned Machines and Chemical Industries Board (MKEK) used in
attacks against Cumhuriyet daily were reportedly the same.

Counterterrorism teams confiscated 27 hand grenades during a raid in
Umraniye on June 13. The grenades were reportedly military property
and are thought to have been stolen from military warehouses.

Security forces found 27 hand grenades and 18 detonators in a box kept
in the attic. Mehmet D. was identified as the landlord who leased the
house to his nephew Ali Y. The police arrested both Mehmet D. and
Ali Y. Prior investigations revealed that Alparslan Arslan — the
prime suspect in the State Council attack last year in which he is
alleged to have shot and killed a top judge — and his accomplices
used stolen grenades in their attack on the newspaper.

Reports indicate that military authorities will be consulted in
regards to the captured armaments.

Oktay Y. actively participated in anti-EU rallies and demonstrations
staged during the trials of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink,
academic and author Elif Þafak as well as author and Nobel Prize winner
Orhan Pamuk, who were all prosecuted under the infamous Article 301
of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The suspects alleged that Oktay Y. brought the grenades to their
house. Acting on this testimony, the police took Oktay Y. into custody.

He had retired due to a disability in connection with his duty
in southeastern Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)
terrorist organization.

Within the investigation the General Staff will be asked whether the
grenades are registered in the army inventory. The suspects will be
interrogated by the counterterrorism squad’s C Desk, which specializes
in rightist organizations.

Three bombs are missing

Mehmet D. told the police during his interrogation that the hand
grenades were brought to the house in Umraniye in 2005 by the former
noncommissioned officer Oktay Y. "Oktay Y. has constantly been in
touch with retired Cap. Muzaffer Tekin, retired Gen. Veli Kucuk
and Bekir Ozturk, one of the founding members of the Kuvayi Milliye
branch in Mersin," Mehmet D. reportedly told to the police. Meanwhile
counterterrorism squads have found that three hand grenades were
missing in the military ammunition bag found during the Umraniye
raiding. A senior security official told the media that those
missing three hand grenades might be the ones used in attacks against
Cumhuriyet.

Grenades reveal web of dark relations once again

Retired Cap. Tekin, who was suspected of instigating the attack
against the Council of State last year but later released due to
insufficient evidence, spoke to several dailies, stating he knew the
retired noncommissioned officer Oktay Y. as a "correct man."

"Those grenades are scrap, they will not kill," he said.

According to Tekin, Oktay Y. has now been continuing his struggle
in thought ending his armed struggle following his retirement from
the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Tekin defended himself and Oktay
Y., saying he liked him as if he were his son, claiming that those
accusing them were attempting to damage them and the TSK down through
the usage of their names. Those accusing them of being involved in
illegal activities "will not be able to play the same game that they
played earlier. These are all complicities," Tekin warned.

Turkish dailies reported Friday that former member of Police Special
Forces Ýbrahim Þahin, whose name was implicated in the Susurluk
gang scandal in 1996, has allegedly introduced Tekin and Oktay Y. to
each other.

A picture showing the provincial chairman of Kuvayi Milliye, Oktay Y.,
who was taken into custody in connection with grenades seized in a
house in Umraniye district, retired Cap. Tekin and retired Col.

Fikri Karadað, also the chairman of a Kuvayi Milliye association
branch and known for taking his oath over a pistol, published in Sabah
daily on Friday. According to the paper the picture was suspected
of being taken in 2003 in Ýstanbul’s Þile suburb during a meeting of
the so-called "Ulusalcýlar Nationalists."

Oktay Y. also had his picture taken with Tekin as well as retired
Gen. Veli Kucuk, who was also implicated in an attack against the
Council of State, Sabah reported.

The Kuvayi Milliye organization was a paramilitary group during World
War I with no legal basis. The members of this organization were used
by the state on and off during that time. But the same Kuvayi Milliye
rebelled against the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire.

Today’s Kuvayi Milliye groupings have frequently been linked to
dubious activities — as is the case most recently in Umraniye —
including the Atabeyler gang and attacks on the Council of State and
on daily Cumhuriyet.

The Ulusalcýlar Nationalists, also known as the "Kýzýl Elma Koalisyonu"
(Red Apple Coalition) or Kuvayi Milliye, of today is composed of
various segments of society: retired officers, former police chiefs,
civil servants, lawyers and journalists targeting to destabilize the
country under the guise of a so-called fight against an Islamic state
that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), with its
conservative roots, could allegedly install.

This is despite the fact that it has been during AK Party rule that
Turkey has witnessed major democratic reforms, though many were
not felt on ground. The above mentioned groups are also anti-US, as
well as anti-EU, the latter in marked contrast to Turkey’s accession
ambition. Those groups are of the belief that EU reforms are aimed
at disintegrating Turkey.

‘A strong will required for fighting illegal acts’

The Umraniye incident and the link between retired officers in illegal
activities have once again raised questions over how such notorious
activities can be stopped and the rule of law installed.

Associate Professor Umit Kardaþ, a retired military judge and lawyer,
told Today’s Zaman there needs to be strong political will to fight
against such illegal groups. "Strong political leadership should be
able to trace the root causes of illegal groups to install the rule
of law in the country. In the fight against illegal activities, the
government, Parliament and media should be mobilized to pave the way
for democracy," he stressed.

Lawyer Ergin Cinmen of the Ýstanbul Bar Association, meanwhile, told
Bia Net Web site on June 14 that the Umraniye incident has once again
revealed that such acts were no longer "deep," or hidden, but taking
place openly.

"If such relationships [among ex officers in illegal activities]
are not prevented they will become stronger and will become the
state itself. We will see how the security teams and prosecutors’
office will deal with this issue. Are we going to let it go with the
tip of the iceberg or will a deep investigation be made?" he said.

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