ASSASSINATION AND ATTACK PLANS IN THIRD INDICTMENT
BIA
Aug 6 2009
Turkey
According to the third Ergenekon indictment, there were plans to
assassinate Armenian and Alevi leaders, DTP representatives and the
writer Orhan Pamuk.
Istanbul – BIA News Center06 August 2009, Thursday The third Ergenekon
indictment, accepted by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court yesterday
(5 August) lists many alleged plans of assassination and attack.
Numerous targets The text refers to plans to kill Ali Balkız,
president of the Alevi Bektashi Federation (ABF), Kazım Genc,
president of the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD),
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, Sivas Armenian congregation
representative Minas Durmazguler, Nobel Prize recipient novelist Orhan
Pamuk, Metropolitan Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir, Democratic
Society Party (DTP) co-chair Ahmet Turk and DTP MP Sebahat Tuncel,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former Chief of General Staff
YaÅ~_ar Buyukanıt.
Accusations against Å~^ahin Detained Ergenekon suspect Ä°brahim
Å~^ahin is a former deputy chief of the police’s special operations
branch. A map giving details for an attack on Balkız was found
in his home. Å~^ahin stands accused of forming and leading the
Ergenekon organisation, attempting to overthrow the government or
obstructing it in carrying out its duties, having weapons of great
number or strength, as well as dangerous substances, obtaining secret
documents relating to state security and other secret documents,
collecting personal information in an illegal manner, and attempting
to overthrow parliament or obstructing it in carrying out its duties.
Anti-Armenian plans Retired general Veli Kucuk, defendant in the first
Ergenekon case, has been found to have frequently spoken on the phone
to Fatma Cengiz, defendant in the third Ergenekon trial. Kucuk said,
"I am the first president of an organisation formed against the
Armenians" and "There is a duty; Armenians must be killed."
Attacks on Cumhuriyet and State Council The third indictment also
mentions the attacks on the Cumhuriyet newspaper and the State Council.
The newspaper was bombed on 5, 10 and 11 May 2006 after publishing
a caricature related to the headscarf debate.
On 17 May 2006, an attack on the 2nd Chamber of the State Council in
Ankara killed judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin and injured others.
These attacks have been merged with the first Ergenekon trial.
Attack on court planned The third indictment further lists a planned
attack on the Supreme Court of Appeals, citing as evidence a map found
on a CD labelled "Supreme Court of Appeals" at the headquarters of
the Workers’ Party (Ä°P), the leader of which, Dogu Perincek, is a
defendant in the first Ergenekon trial.
Assassination prevented An attack against Minas Durmazguler in Sivas
was prevented when suspect Oguz Bulut was caught with two hand grenades
and Ersin Gönenci with a Browning.
A "terrorisation" plan found with defendant Å~^ahin contained
detailed plans of the home of Armenian Patriarch Mutafyan as well as
the Patriarchate. The attacks were supposed to use light anti-tank
weapons (LAW), so the indictment. A police officer named Kenan Temur
was supposed to head the operation, while Fatma Cengiz was supposed
to procure weapons and a YaÅ~_ar Oguz Å~^ahin was supposed to act
as lookout.
Prime Minister also a target Based on maps of Prime Minister Erdogan’s
home found at the military lodgings of Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa
Dönmez, the indictment also presumes that an attack was planned
on him.
The Optimum shopping centre in Ankara is also said to have been chosen
as a target for bombing.
DTP members Defendant Mehmet Fikri Karadag, a retired colonel and the
president of the ultranationalist Kuvvayi Milliye Association, stands
accused of having made plans to assassinate DTP members Baydemir,
Turk and Tuncel.