Ergenekon a political tool, says opposition
Güncelleme Tarihi:
ANKARA - The new wave of Ergenekon detentions, which included many high-profile jurists, angered opposition parties who seemed convinced the whole investigation had a political motive.
Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin, however, said the Ergenekon investigation proceeded entirely within the juridical area.
"The investigation has no political aspects," Şahin said yesterday. "Detentions are purely juridical. I follow developments from the press." Jurists and politicians opposing the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said otherwise, and implicated the ruling party in a campaign of political persecution to eliminate Kemalists and Republicans.
Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal rejected the legality of the Ergenekon investigation, arguing that the motive is to take revenge and to settle scores against defenders of the Republic. "We are witnessing a confrontation against the Republic’s core values. This is a regime change, like in the Khomeini and Hitler eras," Baykal said, adding that Ergenekon’s goal is to gradually detach Turkey from its historical orientation. Other opposition figures also blasted the investigation for being political.