TURKISH DEEP STATE (ERGENEKON) ARMS SITE UNEARTHED IN ANKARA
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Jan 9 2009
Turkey
ANKARA – Turkish Police in Ankara, capital of Turkey, discovered
a munitions site in an investigation into the Ergenekon, so-called
‘deep state’ terrorist organization.
Weapons, flamethrowers and hand grenades found buried under the ground
appear to date from the year 2004. Other excavations are under way
in various areas of the city.
A large cache of weapons, ammunition and bombs was found yesterday
buried underground in Ankara’s Golbasi district, as a result of a
police search based on a map found in the home of Ibrahim Sahin,
a former head of the National Police Department’s Special Operations
Unit.
The operation came at a time when Sahin had ordered the assassination
of non-Muslim minority leaders in Sivas.
Sahin was detained along with 36 others on Wednesday in the
investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network of groups and
individuals accused of trying to overthrow the government. Thirty
varieties of explosives and bombs as well as three lightweight
anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were found buried underground. The newspapers
wrapped around the weapons were from the year 2004, the police
said. According to the initial official list, there were a large
number of bullets for 9mm guns, two LAV weapons, 10 hand grenades
whose serial number had been deleted and 10 smoke bombs used in
training with colored smoke. Another boxed explosive and an ignition
mine were found in the first phases of the excavation, the police
said. The materials found have yet to be examined thoroughly at a
police crime lab. There were also plastic explosives buried.
The excavation of the site started on Thursday and continued until
midday. The teams resumed excavation on Friday and located the
munitions.
Excavations were also launched in the Bala, Mamak, Emek, Bestepe,
Saklibahce and Ataturk Orman Ciftligi (Ataturk Forest Farm) districts
of the city to locate more weapons possibly buried in these areas.
The operation started when Ã~C…Ã~BÂ~^ahin, whose phone conversations
have been tapped by police for at least two months, gave the order to
finalize plans to assassinate Armenian community members in the city
of Sivas. Twelve others were detained in Sivas during Wednesday’s
operation. Police also found shocking evidence that the group
was plotting to kill prominent figures including Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip ErdoÃ~Câ~@~^Ÿan, Former Chief of General Staff
YaÃ~C…Ÿar BÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¼ykanÃ~C&# xE2;~@~^Ã~B±t, Police Department
Intelligence Unit Chief Ramazan AkyÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¼rek, journalist Fehmi
Koru, author Orhan Pamuk and some politicians including members of
the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).
* Gladio weapons fields
The fields brought to mind a great number of NATO-made arms depots
found buried underground during an investigation started by Italian
prosecutor Felice Casson, who discovered the existence of Operation
Gladio, a NATO stay-behind paramilitary force left over from the Cold
War. In a panel he joined in Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°stanbul last April, Casson
said these weapons were found buried in cemeteries, under churches
and even in caves. Ergenekon is also thought to be a remnant from the
original Turkish Gladio, which was founded against a possible Soviet
invasion during the Cold War, but later turned into an organization
trying to cut off Turkey’s ties with the West. The retired generals
arrested in the Ergenekon investigation seem to have an anti-EU,
anti-NATO stance favoring a closer relationship between Turkey and
Russia and Eurasian nations.
Analysts said on Friday that the buried weapons
might shed light on a number of murders committed in the
GÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶lbaÃ~ C…ŸÃ~Câ~@~^Ã~ B± area prior to the Susurluk
investigation of 1996, which started when a former police chief,
a southeastern tribal leader whose men were armed by the state to
fight separatist violence and an internationally wanted mafia boss
were involved in an accident near the small township of Susurluk while
riding in the same car. The police chief and the mafia boss as well
as his girlfriend, a former model, were killed in the accident. No
serious arrests followed from the ensuing investigation, which had
exposed, for the first time in modern Turkish history, a gang with
links to the state.
Some of the most significant unresolved murders were the assassination
of Yusuf Ekinci, a lawyer of Kurdish origin, and the murder of retired
Maj. Cem Ersever and his girlfriend. Investigators are examining
possible links between the GÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶lbaÃ~C… ŸÃ~Câ~@~^Ã~B&#x C2;±
weapons and unresolved murders in the area in the ’90s.
* Ergenekon suspects on the run
Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Mustafa DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez, an Ergenekon suspect
in whose houses in Sakarya and Ankara were found to contain dozens
of bullets, hand grenades and weapons, is now reported to be a
fugitive. On Wednesday DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez, who promised the police who
called him on his cell phone to inform him that an arrest warrant had
been issued for him that he would go to a police station "right away",
disappeared shortly after the phone call. The police claim they arrived
on Wednesday at the AdapazarÃ~Câ~@~^Ã~B± Central Command to capture
DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez, but gendarmerie officers who said the area fell under
gendarmerie jurisdiction said they would find DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez. Later,
the gendarmerie told that police they had been unable to find
DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez and that they believed he had escaped.
Twenty-two hand grenades, five revolvers and a Kalashnikovs as well as
8,300 bullets were found in a house belonging to the lieutenant colonel
in Sakarya. The search in another house belonging to DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez
in Ankara revealed three revolvers, 2 Kalashnikov rifles and a pair
of night-vision binoculars.
Thirty-seven in total were detained in the last wave of Ergenekon
detentions on Wednesday, including six army members who are
currently on duty as well as seven retired generals. In addition
to DÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¶nmez, Bedrettin Dalan, a former mayor of the city
of Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°stanbul, was also being searched by the police on
Wednesday, but it soon turned out that he was in the US. However,
some newspapers claimed on Friday was Dalan had evaded to the US
after being tipped off on the Ergenekon operation.
* Political clashes over Ergenekon
On Thursday, one day after the high-profile detentions, the traffic
in Ankara between institutions was intense. Chief of General Staff
Gen. Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°lker BaÃ~C…ŸbuÃ~Câ ~@~^Ÿ visited both
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÃ~Câ~@~^Ÿan and President Abdullah
GÃ~CÆ’Ã~B¼l, with no statement on the content of the talks but stating
that they were indeed about the recent detentions in which some retired
generals and current officers were taken into custody. Newspapers
wrote yesterday that BaÃ~C…ŸbuÃ~Câ ~@~^Ÿ was seeking
special treatment for military members. According to sources which
spoke to various newspapers, BaÃ~C…ŸbuÃ~Câ ~@~^Ÿ demanded
that military members should be invited to the prosecutor’s office
instead of being taken into custody.
Sources also say that BaÃ~C…ŸbuÃ~Câ ~@~^Ÿ demanded that
senior generals HurÃ~C…Ÿit Tolon and Ã~C…Ã~BÂ~^ener Eruygur,
arrested last year as part of the investigation, be released pending
trial.
Basbug’s visit on Thursday came after a 6-hour meeting of the Force
Commanders on Wednesday evening, convened immediately after the
detentions.
* Accusations disrespectful to judiciary, says Sahin
Also yesterday, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Ã~C…Ã~BÂ~^ahin responded
to allegations from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)
that the Ergenekon investigation had turned into a witch-hunt
against the government’s opponents. CHP leader Deniz Baykal claimed
the operation was a revenge against the secular Republic and its
supporters. Ã~C…Ã~BÂ~^ahin said, "Showing our prosecutors and judges
because of their judicial activities to be "settling accounts with
the Republic," is the highest form of disrespect that can be shown
the judicial institution." Ã~C…Ã~BÂ~^ahin called on all segments
to show the utmost effort not to cast doubt upon the judiciary.
–Boundary_(ID_QnRDVd2PhKao25SeQcH78Q) —
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
