Are Turkey's two controversial cases, Susurluk and Ergenekon, connected?

This is why the ammunition uncovered in an excavation investigation launched after the discovery of sketches at the home of the former head of the Special Forces Ibrahim Sahin, also fingered in the Susurluk case, has caused such excitement.

What we understood from this picture is:

An attempt is being made to formulate an equation that "Ergenekon, is the continuation of Susurluk," or in other words "those left over from the Susurluk case are the subcontractors in Ergenekon".

Efforts are underway to create an atmosphere that suggests Ergenekon was formed as the successor to Susurluk.

Is this the true situation?

Maybe some of you already know or have heard that I was once extremely interested in the deeper issues, including the Susurluk case.

I published hundreds of articles and three books regarding this issue...

Let me give you some information about Sahin's relations, which can be summarized in one page.

Compare this information with the 1200-plus page indictment.

And then you decide; how despite all the evidence the Susurluk case was never solved, and how now the Ergenekon balloon is being blown out of proportion.

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Our one page journey starts before the 1980s in the central province of Nevsehir, from where a considerable number of fake passports were being issued, including for the attempted assassin of Pope John Paul II, Mehmet Ali Agca, and nationalist militant, Abdullah Catli, who was wanted in connection with a number of unsolved murders. This passport office was later destroyed in an arson attack.

A young, newly appointed police chief arrived in the Kisikli town of Nevsehir province in 1978 to take his post. Unable to find suitable accommodation, he met with the Kederoglu family, who allowed him to lodge at their home for a time. The name of this young police chief was Ibrahim Sahin.

The nine-member Kederoglu family consisted of five men and four women. Avsar Kederoglu, who operated a truck parking lot in the 1990s, was not only registered within the Susurluk case files because of his relationship with Sahin, but his name is also mentioned in connection with the kidnapping of Tarik Umit.

Umit was reported missing after being last seen leaving a pastry shop accompanied by two police officers on March 2, 1995; the last conversation was made from a telephone registered to Avsar Kederoglu.

Ahmet Altintas, the noncommissioned officer investigating the disappearance, questioned Kederoglu. He told Altintas that he had given a telephone to each of the two police officers, Ziya Bandirmalioglu and Ayhan Akca, who were also tried in the Susurluk case. Altinas was unable to locate Akca and claimed his investigation was being blocked by Sahin.

Sahin was questioned about this claim during the Susurluk trial. He said: "I called the noncommissioned officer in a bid to learn about the investigation. There was never any talk of attempts to block the investigation. What is more, I informed Mehmet Agar* and he passed this on to the gendarmerie."

Police officer Akca, named in connection with Umit’s disappearance, also drove a luxury BMW belonging to a partner in the Azer Exchange Office that was suspected of laundering drug money.

Akca, who served as security for Sahin for a period, moved into an apartment belonging to the Kederoglu family after he was expelled from police residences, and in 1996, paid the family 15 million lira (nearly $2,500 ) a month in rent.

* * *

If you are talking about a thousand year old organization inherited from Agarta**...

Show a little effort and present a one-page relationship network of any of those accused in the Ergenekon probe! Who has a relationship with whom?

However it is much easier, and better serves your interests, to hide behind the Susurluk black hole and threaten the opposition, isn't it?

But, as the former Supreme Court of Appeals chief prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu said, I would be the first to declare my delight if the Ergenekon probe helps to clear up the Susurluk incident.

But unfortunately, I lose more and more hope as each day passes.

No one should meddle in the Ergenekon case. Any legal omissions should be corrected by the law. The entire country places its faith in the Court of Appeals, the judges and the prosecutors of the Higher Board. We have to learn to be patient and wait.

* Former chief of police and interior minister.

* According to the Ergenekon indictment, the gang is referred to as “Agarta,” a mythical Central Asian secret organization that hid in caves, with “Ergenekon” being the Turkish version of the name.