PROBE REVEALS ERGENEKON’S INFORMATION WARFARE SITES

Today’s Zaman
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Feb 5 2009
Turkey

Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, who surrendered to military authorities after
being a fugitive for several days in connection with the Ergenekon
investigation, was arrested by a civilian court yesterday.

A large number of professional Web sites offering nationalist content
and pseudo-scientific research about Armenian genocide allegations,
Turkey’s Kurdish population and Greece and Turkey’s religious citizens
that have been on the Internet for a long time have been found to be
operated by Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged
with attempting to overthrow the government.

These Web sites, which are updated frequently in both Turkish and
English, feature extremely nationalist propaganda against Greeks, Kurds
and Armenians, as well as Turkey’s own Muslim segments. They have been
around for some time, standing out with their professional-looking
content and design; however, these sites, rich with information,
videos, photographs and documents, have never offered any contact
information. So who updates these sites that vehemently propagate
official ideology on a number of issues and sometimes include
information considered highly confidential? Last months raids in the
Ergenekon investigation have now provided the answer to this question,
thanks to IT expert Huseyin Ataman Yıldırım, who was also detained
as part of the investigation. Ataman, who was also the spokesperson
for the Biz Kac KiÅ~_iyiz (How Many of Us?) movement, is a former
naval officer. He is also the owner of the Ä°stanbul-based software
company Naryaz.

Ataman is also the administrator of the Web site 4000ler.trnet.com,
which has retired and on-duty military officers as members. One
of the members is Adm. Feyyaz Ogutcu, who, according to a National
Intelligence Organi-zation (MÄ°T) document, was one of the founders
of the Karargah Houses, which the Ergenekon investigation revealed
were meeting spots for army generals plotting a coup d’etat as well
as homes to hide hit men and ammunition.

The Ergenekon investigation recently revealed that 35 Internet domains
with similar content and design were registered with the same company.

The sites seem to have been trying to foment public opinion
in line with the goals of the Ergenekon organization. The
sites include , apopkk.com,
armenianreality.com, cameria.org, gencizbiz.net, genclik.info,
gnkur.net, greekmurderers.net, irtica.net, irtica.org, naksilik.com,
nursi.info, pkkapo.com, pkkgercegi.com, terorveguvenlik.net,
turkatak.com and turkeyturks.com.

List of Ergenekon leaders to remain confidential

Meanwhile, judges of the 13th Higher Criminal Court, which is hearing
the trial against Ergenekon, ruled on Wednesday to withhold the names
included in an organizational chart of the terrorist organization.

The organizational chart, drafted in 2001 by the MÄ°T, was submitted
by the MÄ°T to the court last year. The chart, which was published
last year by the Sabah daily, did not reveal the identity of the
ultimate leader of the group, but established the alleged roles of
most of the organization’s suspected members.

The court announced on Wednesday that the names on the Ergenekon
chart would not be revealed in order to protect the right to privacy
of those individuals who are named on the chart, but who are not yet
facing any criminal investigation.

The court noted that the people whose identities have not yet been
revealed have not made any statements about the persons who are
suspects in the case. It also noted that no charges have been filed
against any of the suspects based on the contents of the organizational
chart in question. The reputation and rights of the individuals whose
names have been hidden on the chart and whom the prosecution has not
felt the need to bring charges against so far should be protected
under Article 187 of the Code on Criminal Procedures (CMK), the court
stated, adding that withholding an uncensored version of the original
copy of the MÄ°T chart would not hinder the ongoing trial in any way.

Tolon to stay at GATA for 3 months

Meanwhile, news reports said Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon, who was arrested
last year for suspected links to Ergenekon and was taken to the Gulhane
Military Medical Academy (GATA) in Ä°stanbul in January due to health
problems, will be hospitalized at GATA for at least three months for
purposes of diagnosis.

Reports said during these three months doctors will investigate the
reason for Tolon’s constant dehydration.

Ertekin completes defense statement

Defendant Hayrettin Ertekin presented his defense testimony to the
Ä°stanbul 13th Higher Criminal Court on Wednesday at the 47th hearing
of the Ergenekon trial, which started in October last year. Ertekin
is being charged with publishing propaganda on various Internet sites,
newspapers and television stations owned by his press group, Enternet.

Ertekin said Enternet was not his own personal company, stressing that
he was only a partner in the company, which is based in Bulgaria. He
said he wrote monthly strategy columns published online. He also
argued that none of his research or articles published on the Internet
contain ideas that could incite people to hostility or enmity. He
said his columns were mostly about strategy issues concerning his
commercial company or writings expressing his nationalist beliefs.

Words that go beyond what was meant

Defending a phone conversation he had with an army corps commander
in which he said Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir "should be shot
with a bullet in the head," Ertekin said he had been deeply saddened
at the time by an explosion in the southeastern city that killed
eight people. Stressing that his words went beyond their meaning,
he explained: "This does not mean going there and shooting him in the
head. This was an emotion I felt after the incident. It was said for
that moment. I apologize before the court. I am ashamed for having
uttered those words."

He also explained an e-mail message in which he had written, "The
best Kurd is a dead Kurd," saying, "I had sent that off to a lawyer
friend to establish whether it constituted a crime or not."

In response to the charge that he did not inform the authorities about
the location of fugitive Emre Gulaltay, the brother of Semih Tufan
Gulaltay, who was convicted of attempting to assassinate a former
Human Rights Association (Ä°HD) president, he said he had met him in
China and had no idea that there was a warrant out for his arrest.

In response to the charge of having acquired a list of telephone
numbers belonging to individuals who are members of the Turkish Armed
Forces (TSK), Ertekin said it was only natural that, as a businessman
who had acted as a consultant to the late President Turgut Ozal and
his family, he would have the phone number of generals in his home.

Ersöz recording reveals 367 crisis scheme

Meanwhile, the Yeni Å~^afak daily reported that a scandalous voice
recording of a conversation with former Chief of General Staff
Gen. İsmail Hakkı Karadayı in 2007 that went public late last month
was found during a search in the home of retired Gen. Levent Ersöz,
who was arrested as an Ergenekon suspect in January after being on
the run abroad for half a year.

The voice recording of Karadayı, which was played on Turkish
television stations last month, revealed that Karadayı had asked
former Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu to not attend
a presidential vote in Parliament in 2007, thereby ensuring the
cancellation of the presidential elections to block the Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) candidate from being elected.

Mumcu did not attend the presidential election in Parliament along
with other opposition parties, which led to the cancellation of the
vote by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that the quorum to
hold a presidential vote had not been met. After the tape was released
last week, Mumcu denied that his refusal to attend the voting session
had been influenced by Karadayı or anyone else.
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