Opposition charges Ergenekon is 'revenge'

Addressing their parties’ parliamentary group meetings yesterday, both Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Deniz Baykal and Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, leader Devlet Bahçeli criticized the course of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.

“The Ergenekon probe is a political move, not a juridical one. It is a case that is motivated by politicians and has political targets,” said Baykal. “If there is such an organization, who founded and directed it? Today, more than 100 people were included in the probe. If it is an organization established against the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, why is the name of the AKP not in the indictment?”

According to Baykal, although no one knows exactly what the aim of the Ergenekon organization is, there has been an intention to expand the case to cover certain segments of society. The case has lost its juridical features and it expanded to cover many irrelevant figures, he said.

Recalling that the case of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was finalized within a year, Baykal said there had still been no indictment in the Ergenekon case, though the detentions continued. "There is a Rabbi [Tuncay Güney], secret witnesses and some telephone records. There are claims [made by Güney] under pressure. These are what the probe has been based on," he said. "The murder of the top judge of the Council of State and the Republican rallies are the Ergenekon activities aimed at toppling the government, according to the probe. They expect the court and the public to believe in this.

Did common sense and rationality commit suicide?" Noting that it was not the duty of the prosecutor to make extra-judicial killings, Baykal said the Ergenekon case has been turned into a symbol of horror. He said no one knew why members of the Association in Support of Contemporary Living, or ÇYDD, and Başkent University Rector Mehmet Haberal and other rectors were detained or why the house of ÇYDD Chairwoman Türkan Saylan was searched. The MHP’s Bahçeli said the country’s laws were being abused for political purposes. "There are widespread concerns that the laws are being abused for political gain and used as a means of oppressing and deterring people," he said.

In another meeting yesterday, Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik said ÇYDD Chairwoman Saylan was not subject to the Ergenekon probe as a result of her organization’s educational activities or the scholarships it distributes to girls. "Some media institutions, however, relayed the issue as if those who support Republican values are being silenced. This is not acceptable," Çelik said.