Former minister attends Turkish "deep-state" trial for the first time

The Susurluk scandal broke after a car accident in 1996 led to the discovery of links between the government, police and organized crime.

Agar is charged with forming a criminal organization and abusing his power. Initially he could not be tried due to immunity provisions; however, his failure to enter parliament after the July 2007 parliamentary elections paved the way for his case to be heard.

His lawyers said in a written statement that Agar is facing "unfair charges."

Fikri Saglar, former deputy and member of the Susurluk Committee formed in parliament after the scandal broke, has said Agar was the person who was likely to be at the center in the case.

THE SUSURLUK SCANDAL
On Nov. 3, 1996, a car rear-ended a truck in Susurluk town, which later became the namesake of the infamous case. Mehmet Ozbay, Police Chief Huseyin Kocadag and model Gonca Us died in the accident, while Sedat Edip Bucak, a deputy from the center-right True Path Party (DYP), was injured.

It was later noted that Ozbay was an alias used by fugitive nationalist militant Abdullah Catli, the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant for the deaths of seven left-wing students in the 1970s; a time when intense clashes were ongoing between leftists and rightists that brought the country to the brink of a civil war.

Media had interpreted the accident as proof of illicit links between the country’s politicians, police and mafia.

Prosecutors maintained that a group of individuals, believing it was impossible to deal with people aiding terrorist organizations through legal means, had decided to form a gang.

The prosecutors also demanded the suspension of the immunity of Bucak and Mehmet Agar, who resigned as interior minister after the crash. Most of the trials ended with verdicts of not guilty.

The Susurluk scandal, as the matter is referred to these days, still creates concern. Agar was re-elected to parliament in 2002 as an independent, but his bid to become the DYP leader in the 2007 elections ended with defeat, paving the way for his trial.

The so-called "Susurluk gang" is blamed for many unsolved murders of mafia leaders, businessmen with close ties to the terror organization PKK, as well as other prominent figures during the 1990s.

It also speculated to be the continuation of the shadowy Gladio-type establishments formed in NATO countries to fight against leftist or communist group during the Cold War.

In 2008, Ayhan Carkin, a police officer who was tried in the Susurluk case and who had worked with Sahin, told in a television program that the gang had killed 4,000 people to protect the interests of the state.