POLICE CAPTURE TWO ERGENEKON DEATH SQUADS
Today’s Zaman
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Jan 22 2009
Turkey
Two assassination teams of Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist
organization nested within state organs and charged with plotting to
overthrow the government, were captured yesterday by the police in
14 provinces throughout the country in raids organized as part of an
investigation into the group.
Twenty police officers and military officers were detained in
yesterday’s operations on charges of being members of two assassination
teams led by Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, a former senior police official who was
the deputy head of the National Police Department’s Special Operations
Unit. Å~^ahin was arrested on Jan. 7.
A wave of detentions on Jan. 7 in the Ergenekon investigation revealed
that the group was planning to assassinate Alevi and Armenian
community leaders, the prime minister and members of the Supreme
Court of Appeals — acts that would have dragged Turkey into chaos
had they been carried out.
The many detentions of special operations officers were tied to
statements from Å~^ahin, reportedly made during his police testimony
following his detention. In his initial testimony, Å~^ahin said
7th Army Commander Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, currently on active duty,
had assigned him to set up a team of 300 officers to be employed in
a new anti-terrorism department. Kalyoncu also promised that Å~^ahin
would be the undersecretary of the new unit. Å~^ahin claimed he was
working to set up this new structure. He said a document found in his
home during the police search was a list of officers to be chosen for
the special force. The document was titled "S-1" and listed military
officers and police Special Operations Unit members under the age of
30. Analysts believe most of those detained yesterday were individuals
from the list.
Members of the Foundation for Social Rights and Values asked Ergenekon
prosecutors to open some wells in the Southeast alleged to contain
the acid-doused bodies of missing people.
Yesterday’s raids were launched on a warrant issued by Ergenekon
prosecutor Zekeriya Oz on property of individuals affiliated with
a workers’ union and the ART TV network. Authorities began their
search of a house in Ankara’s Beysukent district belonging to Mustafa
Ozbek, the head of metals sector workers’ union Turk Metal, at 7:30
a.m. Ozbek, Turk Metal Deputy Chairman Ferruh Kavlak and Turk Metal
Secretary-General Muharrem Aslıyuce. Union officials Suleyman Erdinc
and Pevrul Kavrat were also detained.
A group of Turk Metal Union members protested the detention of Ozbek
in front of the Ankara Police Department yesterday. Union members,
holding signs, chanted: "We are wherever Ozbek is. Don’t be silent,
you will be next. We are Turkish, we are strong, we are Ataturkists."
Journalist Unal Ä°nanc and Turkmeneli Association President SavaÅ~_
Avcı were detained in İstanbul. Researcher Erhan Göksel, owner of
the Verso Research Company, was also detained yesterday.
Answering reporters’ questions while being taken away by the police for
a health check-up, Göksel said he was not a member of Ergenekon. Ozbek
also made a brief statement in front of the Ankara Police Department,
claiming that the detentions and raids were "unlawful."
A police chief and a police officer were detained in Antalya and
sent to Ä°stanbul to testify as part of the investigation, sources
said. One other person was detained in Bursa.
Other detentions took place in operations in Antalya, Elazıg,
Hakkari, Hatay, Ä°stanbul, Igdır, Isparta, KahramanmaraÅ~_, Siirt,
Å~^ırnak and Tokat. The police also searched the Å~^irinoglu Social
and Strategic Research Center in Ankara
Commenting on his father’s arrest, Ozbek’s son Haydar Ozbek said:
"We are living in a period when being a Turk in Turkey is a crime. I
wouldn’t be surprised if they arrest Nejat Uygur soon," he said,
in an ambiguous comment about a veteran thespian.
Other searches and detentions
Murat Cavdar, a police officer from the Special Operations Unit,
was detained in Tokat. In Isparta, a high-ranking military officer
was detained. Three special operations officers were detained in
KahramanmaraÅ~_. In Bursa, a military officer was detained.
At least 10 people were detained in Ä°stanbul, although the police
did not announce an exact figure.
A gardener who worked for Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, detained in the
Jan. 7 raids, was taken to the Ä°stanbul Police Department yesterday
to testify. Twelve rifle grenades and 12 booby traps were found.
Meanwhile, President Abdullah Gul yesterday reacted to news stories
about a luncheon he gave for military and government representatives
earlier this week. Some newspapers had claimed that the president,
presidents of high courts and the prime minister had spoken about
the Ergenekon investigation during the luncheon. "Would the judges,
the president and the prime minister violate the law? Would they speak
about an ongoing case?" he asked, speaking to journalists yesterday
during a brief press conference at the Cankaya presidential palace.
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