‘DEEP STATE’ SUSPECT OFFERS SHALLOW DEFENSE

Kuwait Times
Dec 16 2008
Kuwait

ISTANBUL – A key suspect in the Ergenekon investigation testified in
court yesterday, blaming the state itself and accusing it of conspiring
against him.

Retired Maj. Gen. Veli Kucuk, cited by some as the main organizer
of crimes blamed on the "deep state," the term used to describe all
illegal activities committed by state organs.

The Ergenekon case began after the discovery of hand grenades
in 2007 in a shanty house in Istanbul that belonged to a retired
noncommissioned officer. The grenades were found to be the same as
those used in attacks on the Cumhuriyet daily’s Istanbul offices
in 2006.

The findings led to scores of detentions and to more than
100 journalists, writers, gang leaders and politicians being
interrogated. It turned into a terror investigation that aimed to
crack down on an alleged ultra-nationalist gang named Ergenekon,
that sought to topple the government by staging a coup in 2009,
initially by spreading chaos and mayhem. Ergenekon is a pre-Islamic
Turkish saga that tells of the Turks’ emergence from an earlier defeat
by tricking their enemies under the guidance of a gray wolf.

Earlier bombings of daily Cumhuriyet, the murder of Hrant Dink, the
murder of a top judge of the Council of State and alleged plans for
the assassination of high-profile figures in Turkish politics have
been associated with the case.

Police also raided the homes of 11 people on March 21 in an earlier
wave of detentions, including Cumhuriyet’s chief columnist and
licensee, Ä°lhan Selcuk, 83, Workers’ Party, or Ä°P, leader Dogu
Perincek and Istanbul University’s former rector.

The list of detainees includes retired generals Å~^ener Eruygur and
HurÅ~_id Tolon and retired Kucuk. Many detainees are retired officials
who gathered in associations linked to the ultra-nationalist Kuvayi
Milliye (National Forces), a reference to irregular forces that led
the Turkish independence war back in early the 1920s.

In the session yesterday, Kucuk told the court he had done nothing
wrong during his military career and said his name was being used
to attack the standing of the military. He described the accusations
made against him as "tragic and comical."

"I said the eastern problem was not a Kurdish problem, but an Armenian
problem. Some people did not like that and that is why I am here,"
said Kucuk.

He dismissed the existence of the Gendarmerie Intelligence Services,
or JÄ°TEM, by saying, "The indictment against me keeps referring to
JÄ°TEM, which does not exist."

Kucuk also denied any involvement in the Susurluk Scandal.

Susurluk scandal

On Nov. 3, 1996 a car had rear-ended a truck driven by Hasan
Gökce. Reports stated Mehmet Ozbay, Police Chief Huseyin Kocadag and
model Gonca Us died in the accident, and a True Path Party, or DYP,
deputy from Å~^anlıurfa, Sedat Edip Bucak, was seriously injured. It
was later noted Ozbay was an alias used by right-wing militant Abdullah
Catlı, the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant for the killing
of seven left-wing students. The media interpreted the accident as
proof there were illicit links between politicians, police and the
mafia. Most of the trials linked to the Susurluk Scandal ended with
verdicts of not guilty. Kucuk said yesterday, "There are claims I am
at the center of the Susurluk Scandal," and added he had followed the
story in the media. He said again that the scandal was a ploy to harm
the standing of the military.

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