ERGENEKON SEEKING DISPOSAL OF STOCKPILED GRENADES

Today’s Zaman
April 11 2008
Turkey

A criminal gang thought to have been carrying out preparation for
the overthrow of the government is suspected of having amassed some
8,000 grenades but appears to be trying to get rid of them, the Taraf
daily reported yesterday.

The daily, basing its story on police sources, reported that Ergenekon,
a shadowy and powerful neo-nationalist gang suspected of being behind a
number of politically motivated murders, including the assassination
of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007, was trying to get rid
of its explosives and grenades in the face of increased raids and
operations against its members.

So far 47 suspects have been arrested as part of the Ergenekon
investigation, launched after the police found a house full of guns
and explosives in Ýstanbul last June. Those who have been arrested
include retired generals and army officials; public figures such as
journalists; mafia leaders including drug lords; and the previous
suspects of a 1996 car crash in Susurluk that revealed that a police
chief at the time had dealings with a mafia leader and a deputy,
the chief of a Kurdish clan in the Southeast funded by the state to
fight the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Police sources say they have reason to believe the Ergenekon gang
returned some of the 8,000 grenades they had earlier obtained to
their sources, but the exact number of returned grenades is unknown.

The police say the initial investigation into five hand grenades
seized at the Esenler bus station in Ýstanbul on Tuesday showed that
the serial numbers of the hand grenades are identical to some on
grenades previously connected with the Ergenekon organization.

"Either the gang is trying to get rid of the explosives it has by
doing this or its members are preparing to stage an attack out of
frustration and panic," Taraf quoted a source as saying. A similar
grenade seized at a McDonald’s store in Kadýkoy, Ýstanbul, also
confirms this suspicion.

Meanwhile, an official with the police department said the group had
tried to detonate the Mc Donald’s grenade but failed to do so because
of an incorrect set-up on a mobile phone-activated device to set off
the bomb.

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