Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 1 2008

Indictment reading continues with low attendance

The sixth session of the trial of 86 suspected members of Ergenekon, a
criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government, was
held yesterday, with the prosecution continuing to read the massive
indictment with the participation of fewer defendants and their
lawyers compared to previous sessions.

Only eight of the 40 suspects who were previously released pending the
outcome of the trial showed up at the courtroom yesterday, showing a
gradual decrease in the number of defendants and their lawyers
participating in the sessions.

Only one of the 46 suspects under arrest, Hayrettin Ertekin, did not
attend the session due to health reasons.

The makeshift courtroom inside Silivri Prison near Ä°stanbul was
rather deserted in the previous session on Thursday as well, with 61
of the suspects attending the trial. Families and relatives of a large
majority of defendants did not come to watch the session, either. It
was, however, claimed by lawyers and many observers on the first day
of the trial that the small makeshift courtroom was not physically
suitable to host a fair trial.

Yesterday’s session was devoted to the continuation of reading the
massive indictment aloud like previous sessions and focused on the
links between Ergenekon and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK). After some of the suspects’ lawyers demanded earlier this week
that the 2,455-page indictment be read out loud, the court began the
time-consuming process. It is estimated that the process will take at
least two or three more weeks. The prosecution has only been able to
finish 443 pages of the indictment in the first five sessions spent
reading it. Prosecutors read just the main headings of some parts of
the indictment instead of reading it line by line upon the approval of
lawyers.

The Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court is hearing the
case. Among the 86 suspects are retired Gen. Veli
Küçük, former İstanbul University Rector
Kemal AlemdaroÄ?lu, lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz, who is known
for filing suits against intellectuals over their writings questioning
or criticizing the state line on issues such as Armenian allegations
of genocide, and retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin. The session was also
followed by reporters from Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, one of the
most widely circulated dailies in the world. Brief tension erupted
between prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel and Workers’ Party
(Ä°P) leader DoÄ?u Perinçek, after the prosecutor
defined Perinçek as İP leader at the time he reportedly
met with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ã-calan. "I was not the
Ä°P leader then. You say the meeting took place in 1997. It was
[in fact] in 1989. You will nearly say it occurred before Christ,"
said Perinçek.

Another moment of tension was observed between the presiding judge,
Köksal Å?engün, and Oktay
Yıldırım, a noncommissioned officer retired from
the army. Prosecutors read a part from the indictment that alleged a
hand grenade found in Yıldırım’s house in
Ã`mraniye in 2007, which set off the Ergenekon investigation, had
the same serial number as those used in an attack at a café
belonging to a man named Ä°brahim
�iftçi. �iftçi, who was a suspect in the
murder of secular academic Necip HablemitoÄ?lu and who is also
suspected of links to Ergenekon according to the prosecutor, died in
the attack in 2006.

"No, they didn’t have the same serial numbers," said
Yıldırım, who was ordered by Köksal to
limit his explanations to his defense. Köksal also warned
another suspect, retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin, to watch his words when
he said that he was more honest and dignified than the judges.

Ahmet Ã`lger, lawyer for Oktay Yıldırım and
retired Maj. Zekeriya Ã-ztürk, claimed the Ä°stanbul
Police Department’s counterterrorism unit currently has a list of
2,500 people to be taken into custody as part of the Ergenekon
investigation.

In the meantime, a group of people identifying themselves as
"Patriotic Intellectuals," including veteran Turkish filmmaker Halit
RefiÄ?, journalist Banu Avar and actor Altan Günbay, were
allowed to enter the courtroom to watch the session.

One of the members of the group told press members that they went to
Silivri Prison to show their support for the Ergenekon suspects. "The
Ergenekon case is not a reassuring process. The suspects should
immediately be released," he stated.

Former prosecutor claims Ergenekon is as strong as before

Gültekin Avcı, a former chief prosecutor, has recently
compiled his impressions on the Ergenekon investigation in a book, in
which he asserts the organization is as strong as it was before it was
uncovered. "Though the trial process has started for Ergenekon
suspects, the organization is as strong as it was before. For this
illegal network to be completely uncovered, you need to have its
members in the military appear before the judge, as well," he told the
Cihan news agency.

Likening Ergenekon to a living nightmare, Avcı said a full
revelation of the organization would help restore democracy in
Turkey. He also stated it was worth noticing that separatist and
terrorist acts have increased in the country as the Ergenekon probe
gets deeper.

"As the investigation moves toward the nucleus of the organization,
separatist and terrorist acts have increased across the country. The
indictment also clearly mentions this direct link, pointing to the
attack on the US Consulate General and bloody assaults by the PKK,"
Avcı added. A deadly armed attack on the US Consulate General
in Ä°stanbul in July left three Turkish police officers
dead. Many strategists and observers voiced the opinion that the
attack could be related to an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon.

01 November 2008, Saturday

BÃ`Å?RA ERDAL, NURÄ° Ä°MRE, TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL