COUP OPPONENTS HOLD DEBATE ON ERGENEKON INVESTIGATION
Today’s Zaman
Jan 29 2009
Turkey
A group of nongovernmental organizations debated the ongoing
investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network accused of
undermining the state, in a panel discussion held on Tuesday at
Ä°stanbul’s Taxim Hill Hotel.
The panel, organized by the 70 Million Steps Against Coups coalition,
brought together several civil society organizations opposing coup
attempts and anti-democratic schemes. The participants condemned those
attempting to influence the investigation into Ergenekon and called for
more respect for the judiciary and the judicial process. Ergenekon is
a clandestine terrorist network charged with attempting to overthrow
the government. Dozens of its suspected members have been detained
or arrested so far, among whom are retired and active army officers,
businessmen and journalists.
Mustafa Karaalioglu, editor-in-chief of the Star daily, said it was
hard to understand why some sections of society were opposed to the
Ergenekon investigation. He noted that as the investigation deepens,
the fractures within the clandestine organization will deepen.
The 70 Million Steps Against Coups coalition brought together several
groups opposing coups.
The chairman of the Revolutionary Socialist Workers’ Party (DSÄ°P),
Dogan Tarkan, said the attempts to end the Ergenekon investigation
will be stronger in the days ahead. "The investigation should go
to the end. The ammunition and weapons discovered have shown the
objectives of the organization," he stated.
The discovery of a large amount of ammunition and weapons in isolated
places over recent weeks and the assassination plots uncovered in
the homes of Ergenekon suspects showed that the group was planning
to murder 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. Actress Lale
Mansur, one of the members of the 70 Million Steps Against Coups
coalition, expressed her happiness with the success of the Ergenekon
investigation so far.
Democratic Society Party (DTP) Ä°stanbul deputy Sabahat Tuncel
also delivered a speech at the panel discussion and called on the
government to shed light on the unsolved murders. "I come from a
society which has several victims in unsolved murders. I support the
Ergenekon investigation and want it to go to the very end. I hope
the investigation will take us to a brilliant Turkey," she stated.
Tuncel also claimed that the reason behind the formation of Ergenekon
was the Kurdish problem. "People believed for several years that
members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] deserved to die. More
and more dead bodies have been removed from acid wells. We should
not accept all this [injustice]. We have to eliminate those who sow
the seeds of hatred among the public," she remarked.
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