Dimensions grow in Ergenekon case
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Şafak Timur
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 18, 2008 00:00
ISTANBUL- Turkey’s top appeals court decides to merge the May 2006 Council of State attack case with the Ergenekon investigation. One expert says the move is the first truly concrete action taken, while another says the failed ’deep state’ investigation in the 1990s raises doubt about accomplishing anything
The decision to merge the attack on the Council of State with the ongoing Ergenekon investigation and subsequent trial is a significant step in the right direction, according to experts on the issue.
The Supreme Court of Appeals decided late Tuesday there were links between the Ergenekon trial, in which a criminal gang is accused of trying to disrupt order and carry out a military coup, and the attack on the Council of State, May 17, 2006, when an armed lawyer entered the country’s highest administrative court killing a judge and injuring two others. The court ordered the lower court in Ankara to merge the cases.
There are around 100 people, including retired military officers, journalists and a party leader, accused of being members of the Ergenekon gang. The trial is taking place in Istanbul’s Silivri region.
The Ergenekon investigation began upon the discovery of 27 hand grenades June 12, 2007, in a shanty house in Istanbul's Ümraniye district that belonged to a retired noncommissioned officer. The grenades were found to be the same as those used in the attacks on Cumhuriyet daily’s Istanbul offices in 2006.
Those who were found responsible for the May 17, 2006, attack on the Council of State were also found guilty of the attacks on Cumhuriyet, which caused material damage. Initially the Council of State attacks were believed to be linked to Islamist terrorist groups because of the council’s decision to bar an elementary school teacher from receiving a promotion for wearing a headscarf off-duty. But as the number of suspects increased and included former military officials of with secularist credentials, the "deep state," or criminal organizations with key state links, was suspected.
The Ankara court last year decided there were not enough grounds to merge the two cases. At the end of the trial into the shootings earlier this year, however, five people were sentenced to prison, four of them for life, including the main perpetrator, Alparslan Arslan.
The Ankara court last year decided there were not enough grounds to merge the two cases. At the end of the trial into the shootings earlier this year, however, five people were sentenced to prison, four of them for life, including the main perpetrator, Alparslan Arslan.
The investigation into the Ergenekon gang, with supposed links to many criminal activities over the years, was regarded as a historical move to cleanse Turkey of the deep state and to settle many unsolved murders.
Some have claimed the Ergenekon indictment, which was disclosed 18 months after the investigation started, was short on hard evidence and too dependent on extrapolations.
One expert said this was exactly why the appeals court’s decision was so important.
"It is the most serious development in the ongoing Ergenekon case since the beginning," said Suat Toktaş, the editor of the news program "Editor" on private news channel CNNTürk. The attack on the Council of State judges and the attacks on Cumhuriyet daily were the only fact-based items in the Ergenekon indictment.
If the local court in Ankara, which will re-assess its earlier conclusion, decides to merge two cases, it would be the first truly "concrete" action taken on the case, said Toktaş.
Its earlier decision was based on an incomplete version of the indictment, said Toktaş. "Maybe the local court in Ankara, after examining the whole 2,500-page indictment will decide that the murder of the judges was not because of religious sensitivities, as was claimed, but it was a murder by Ergenekon to prepare the necessary atmosphere for a coup," Toktaş said.
New allegations
Almost every week, a new crime is blamed on the Ergenekon gang. In the past few days, Yeni Şafak daily has published front-page reports claiming the murder of Üzeyir Garih, a respected member of Turkey’s business and Jewish communities, in 2001 was also linked to Ergenekon, according to an associate of Garih.
Şaban Arslan, the news editor of the daily, said he agreed the Supreme Court of Appeals was significant, adding he also expected the Garih murder and other unsolved murders to be merged with the gang’s trial soon. A suspect, thought to be a drug addict, was found to have murdered Garih and sentenced to life. Many believe the murders of Garih, the Council of State judge and Hrant Dink were ordered by a criminal organization, whether it was the Ergenekon gang or the deep state, which used teenagers and drug addicts to do its bidding.
Some not optimistic
The failure of the Susurluk case Ğ that showed links between the mafia, police and politics Ğ to go deep enough in the late 1990s has made some suspicious of the possibility the Ergenekon investigation will accomplish anything.
Semih Hiçyılmaz, a journalist and researcher who has written books on counter-terror organizations and the deep state, is not optimistic but still noted that the decision by the appeals court was a significant step.
The intention of the state matters more than the judicial process in reaching a satisfying conclusion, he said. "The state does not have the intention to really solve this case," Hiçyılmaz said. "The indictment contains all the necessary information."
Hiçyılmaz said there were rumors that Osman Yıldırım, one of the suspects in the Council of State case who received a life sentence, was one of the secret witnesses testifying against the Ergenekon suspects. "If the cases are merged, a suspect may become a witness," he said. Mete Göktürk, a former prosecutor of the closed State Security Court said the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals was expected.
"I think that the decision is in accordance with law and the reasoning is very clear," he said. "The Supreme Court of Appeals decided that it is obligatory to evaluate the case as a whole, after all these allegations of a connection between the two."
The accused in the Council of State attack have been sentenced to life in prison and their actual position would not change, said Göktürk, adding that if any of those who instigated the attacks were found, they would be sentenced to long terms in prison, too.
Mehmet Elkatmış, the head of the parliamentary commission on the Susurluk accident, said public expectations effected prosecutors and pressured them to complete the indictment.
"We do not know whether there will be a new wave of arrests. An additional indictment will be prepared for the recently arrested suspects. Currently another case is being merged with the Ergenekon case. Everyday there are new allegations. This is a significant case. We should wait for its conclusion," he said.
The Supreme Court of Appeals decided late Tuesday there were links between the Ergenekon trial, in which a criminal gang is accused of trying to disrupt order and carry out a military coup, and the attack on the Council of State, May 17, 2006, when an armed lawyer entered the country’s highest administrative court killing a judge and injuring two others. The court ordered the lower court in Ankara to merge the cases.
There are around 100 people, including retired military officers, journalists and a party leader, accused of being members of the Ergenekon gang. The trial is taking place in Istanbul’s Silivri region.
The Ergenekon investigation began upon the discovery of 27 hand grenades June 12, 2007, in a shanty house in Istanbul's Ümraniye district that belonged to a retired noncommissioned officer. The grenades were found to be the same as those used in the attacks on Cumhuriyet daily’s Istanbul offices in 2006.
Those who were found responsible for the May 17, 2006, attack on the Council of State were also found guilty of the attacks on Cumhuriyet, which caused material damage. Initially the Council of State attacks were believed to be linked to Islamist terrorist groups because of the council’s decision to bar an elementary school teacher from receiving a promotion for wearing a headscarf off-duty. But as the number of suspects increased and included former military officials of with secularist credentials, the "deep state," or criminal organizations with key state links, was suspected.
The Ankara court last year decided there were not enough grounds to merge the two cases. At the end of the trial into the shootings earlier this year, however, five people were sentenced to prison, four of them for life, including the main perpetrator, Alparslan Arslan.
The Ankara court last year decided there were not enough grounds to merge the two cases. At the end of the trial into the shootings earlier this year, however, five people were sentenced to prison, four of them for life, including the main perpetrator, Alparslan Arslan.
The investigation into the Ergenekon gang, with supposed links to many criminal activities over the years, was regarded as a historical move to cleanse Turkey of the deep state and to settle many unsolved murders.
Some have claimed the Ergenekon indictment, which was disclosed 18 months after the investigation started, was short on hard evidence and too dependent on extrapolations.
One expert said this was exactly why the appeals court’s decision was so important.
"It is the most serious development in the ongoing Ergenekon case since the beginning," said Suat Toktaş, the editor of the news program "Editor" on private news channel CNNTürk. The attack on the Council of State judges and the attacks on Cumhuriyet daily were the only fact-based items in the Ergenekon indictment.
If the local court in Ankara, which will re-assess its earlier conclusion, decides to merge two cases, it would be the first truly "concrete" action taken on the case, said Toktaş.
Its earlier decision was based on an incomplete version of the indictment, said Toktaş. "Maybe the local court in Ankara, after examining the whole 2,500-page indictment will decide that the murder of the judges was not because of religious sensitivities, as was claimed, but it was a murder by Ergenekon to prepare the necessary atmosphere for a coup," Toktaş said.
New allegations
Almost every week, a new crime is blamed on the Ergenekon gang. In the past few days, Yeni Şafak daily has published front-page reports claiming the murder of Üzeyir Garih, a respected member of Turkey’s business and Jewish communities, in 2001 was also linked to Ergenekon, according to an associate of Garih.
Şaban Arslan, the news editor of the daily, said he agreed the Supreme Court of Appeals was significant, adding he also expected the Garih murder and other unsolved murders to be merged with the gang’s trial soon. A suspect, thought to be a drug addict, was found to have murdered Garih and sentenced to life. Many believe the murders of Garih, the Council of State judge and Hrant Dink were ordered by a criminal organization, whether it was the Ergenekon gang or the deep state, which used teenagers and drug addicts to do its bidding.
Some not optimistic
The failure of the Susurluk case Ğ that showed links between the mafia, police and politics Ğ to go deep enough in the late 1990s has made some suspicious of the possibility the Ergenekon investigation will accomplish anything.
Semih Hiçyılmaz, a journalist and researcher who has written books on counter-terror organizations and the deep state, is not optimistic but still noted that the decision by the appeals court was a significant step.
The intention of the state matters more than the judicial process in reaching a satisfying conclusion, he said. "The state does not have the intention to really solve this case," Hiçyılmaz said. "The indictment contains all the necessary information."
Hiçyılmaz said there were rumors that Osman Yıldırım, one of the suspects in the Council of State case who received a life sentence, was one of the secret witnesses testifying against the Ergenekon suspects. "If the cases are merged, a suspect may become a witness," he said. Mete Göktürk, a former prosecutor of the closed State Security Court said the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals was expected.
"I think that the decision is in accordance with law and the reasoning is very clear," he said. "The Supreme Court of Appeals decided that it is obligatory to evaluate the case as a whole, after all these allegations of a connection between the two."
The accused in the Council of State attack have been sentenced to life in prison and their actual position would not change, said Göktürk, adding that if any of those who instigated the attacks were found, they would be sentenced to long terms in prison, too.
Mehmet Elkatmış, the head of the parliamentary commission on the Susurluk accident, said public expectations effected prosecutors and pressured them to complete the indictment.
"We do not know whether there will be a new wave of arrests. An additional indictment will be prepared for the recently arrested suspects. Currently another case is being merged with the Ergenekon case. Everyday there are new allegations. This is a significant case. We should wait for its conclusion," he said.