Outrage grows at Ergenekon probe
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 20, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - The protest rally initiated by Başkent University turns into a huge demonstration Saturday in Ankara. Thousands protest the latest detention of university professors and the directors of a nongovernmental agency under the last wave of the Ergenekon case
Thousands of people marched to Atatürk's mausoleum, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, on Saturday to protest the arrests of university professors and other secularists as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.
More than 5,000 people from different segments of the society waved Turkish flags, carried posters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at the mausoleum, and chanted; "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!"
Eight people including Ankara’s Başkent University Rector and owner of pro-secular television channel Mehmet Haberal were charged last week with forming the illegal organization called Ergenekon, that allegedly plotted to topple the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which has Islamic roots. Haberal who suffered a heart scare was hospitalized in Istanbul University’s intensive care unit.
The police search of the home of cancer patient Türkan Saylan, a secular figure and president of the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life, or ÇYDD, as well as the seizure of the ÇYDD’s scholarship list and documents have also drawn harsh reaction not only from the secularists but also from liberals and the Islamist media.
The protest march initiated by the Başkent University turned into a huge demonstration Saturday in Ankara in protest of the latest detention of university professors and directors of ÇYDD that sponsors poor students.
Minister reacts
Meanwhile, another reaction to the latest Ergenekon move came from the Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay who said the Ergenekon operation recalled the coup of 1971, describing the move "unpleasant."
Referring to the police search of Saylan’s house, Günay said: "That issue has particularly been disturbing. Sometimes I worry about whether there are some struggles inside [the country] to pervert the course of the probe" he said, speaking to journalists in Antalya on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Günay said in a written statement yesterday that the Ergenekon probe was a crucial legal process in terms of democracy and rule of law in Turkish political history.
He had to make a written explanation because of the news about himself taking place in the media yesterday. Higher Education Board, or YÖK, President Professor Yusuf Ziya Özcan, on the other hand, called Haberal yesterday to inquire of his health.
Murat Belge of the liberal daily Taraf said he could not understand the police searching the house of Saylan, who deserved to be respected and that he was disturbed with the move, while Oya Baydar of the same newspaper said the expansion of the probe to the ÇYDD was against the law and harmed the probe’s credibility.
Serdar Turgut of daily Akşam said the police search of the home of much loved cancer patient Saylan hit the legitimization of the probe, implying that the investigation has gotten of the state’s control and passed into the hands of an authority that could control the police.
More than 5,000 people from different segments of the society waved Turkish flags, carried posters of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at the mausoleum, and chanted; "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!"
Eight people including Ankara’s Başkent University Rector and owner of pro-secular television channel Mehmet Haberal were charged last week with forming the illegal organization called Ergenekon, that allegedly plotted to topple the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, which has Islamic roots. Haberal who suffered a heart scare was hospitalized in Istanbul University’s intensive care unit.
The police search of the home of cancer patient Türkan Saylan, a secular figure and president of the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life, or ÇYDD, as well as the seizure of the ÇYDD’s scholarship list and documents have also drawn harsh reaction not only from the secularists but also from liberals and the Islamist media.
The protest march initiated by the Başkent University turned into a huge demonstration Saturday in Ankara in protest of the latest detention of university professors and directors of ÇYDD that sponsors poor students.
Minister reacts
Meanwhile, another reaction to the latest Ergenekon move came from the Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay who said the Ergenekon operation recalled the coup of 1971, describing the move "unpleasant."
Referring to the police search of Saylan’s house, Günay said: "That issue has particularly been disturbing. Sometimes I worry about whether there are some struggles inside [the country] to pervert the course of the probe" he said, speaking to journalists in Antalya on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Günay said in a written statement yesterday that the Ergenekon probe was a crucial legal process in terms of democracy and rule of law in Turkish political history.
He had to make a written explanation because of the news about himself taking place in the media yesterday. Higher Education Board, or YÖK, President Professor Yusuf Ziya Özcan, on the other hand, called Haberal yesterday to inquire of his health.
Murat Belge of the liberal daily Taraf said he could not understand the police searching the house of Saylan, who deserved to be respected and that he was disturbed with the move, while Oya Baydar of the same newspaper said the expansion of the probe to the ÇYDD was against the law and harmed the probe’s credibility.
Serdar Turgut of daily Akşam said the police search of the home of much loved cancer patient Saylan hit the legitimization of the probe, implying that the investigation has gotten of the state’s control and passed into the hands of an authority that could control the police.