ERGENEKON PROBE EXPOSES SURVEILLANCE OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY
Today’s Zaman
Nov 20 2009
Turkey
The investigation into an alleged illegal network known as Ergenekon
has revealed that a civilian who was formerly employed by the Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK) had collected detailed information on Turkey’s
ethnic Armenian population.
Ergenekon investigators found that Fatma Cengiz, who is currently
a suspect in the case against Ergenekon, collected various dossiers
regarding the Armenian community in Turkey. The file included a list
of subscribers to the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos.
In addition, there were lists of names and members of Armenian
foundations and churches, which were classified as "active" or not,
as well as the balance sheets of Agos.
Cengiz had been in the limelight before after claims that she gave
information to Ä°brahim Å~^ahin, a former deputy head of the National
Police Department’s Special Operations Unit, to establish "S-1 and
S-2 teams" to assassinate intellectual leaders in society.
According to sources, Cengiz also tracked the names of academics,
writers and journalists who participated a two-day academic
conference held on Sept. 24-25, 2005, at Istanbul Bilgi University
titled "Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the Empire: Issues
of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy." The conference openly
disputed the official Turkish account of the Armenian massacres.
In the files allegedly belonging to Cengiz, who is also known as Asena
Ozturk, there are several famous names, with notes next to their names:
Halil Berktay, "professor, he had publicly said that Armenians were
massacred"; Kazım Akıncı, "secret Armenian, he applied to a court
to change his religion after Dink [Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant
Dink who was assassinated by an ultranationalist teenager in 2007]";
Ece Temelkuran, "she said that if something happens to her the prime
minister is responsible for it, she is a graduate of the Ankara faculty
of law"; Herkul Milas, "he is not an Armenian"; Sevan NiÅ~_anyan,
"writer at Taraf, maybe from Agos, needed to be investigated"; Markar
Esayan, "Taraf writer, information regarding him will come together
with Etyen Mahcupyan"; Aytac İlhan, "he might be a student in Igdır,
he should be investigated, he had applied to change his religion";
Baskın Oran, Adalet Agaoglu and Elif Å~^afak.
Investigators have also found a PowerPoint presentation which was
allegedly prepared by Cengiz, who signed it as Asena Ozturk. In that
presentation, pictures of Å~^ahin and Korkut Eken, a former officer of
the TSK Special Operations, are placed side by side. There is also a
photograph of former Chief of General Staff Gen. YaÅ~_ar Buyukanıt,
in addition to the expression "Everything is for the country,"
written in blood on a background of weapons and the Turkish flag.