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  • ANKARA: New Dossier Reveals Ergenekon's Murderous Deeds

    NEW DOSSIER REVEALS ERGENEKON'S MURDEROUS DEEDS

    Today's Zaman
    April 30 2009
    Turkey

    The leaders of Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged
    with plotting to overthrow the government, masterminded the plan to
    kill a Turkish-Armenian journalist in January 2007, as well as the
    murders of dozens of people whose bodies were dumped at a crossroad
    in Sapanca, near Istanbul, according to new evidence compiled by the
    prosecution that was made public on Monday.

    The dossiers of evidence from the second indictment in the trial of
    the suspected members of Ergenekon were handed to defense attorneys
    on Monday evening.

    Metin Dogan, a former noncommissioned military officer who testified
    as a witness in the murder trial of three Christian missionaries
    brutally killed in Malatya, has testified for the prosecution in the
    Ergenekon case. According to Dogan's testimony, retired Gen. Veli
    Kucuk, a prime suspect in the Ergenekon investigation, confessed
    that his people had plans to kill Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
    Dink, who would later be shot to death in broad daylight outside his
    newspaper's office in 2007.

    In his testimony to the Ergenekon prosecutors from Jan. 5, 2009, Dogan
    said in a meeting he had with Kucuk, the former general expressed
    his disapproval of Dink and Orhan Pamuk, Turkey's only Nobel laureate
    author, saying the two men spoke badly about the Turkish nation.

    According to his testimony, Dogan, who was a technical noncommissioned
    officer in the air force, started his post in 2001 and left the
    army in 2003. After that, he started engaging in "illegal affairs,"
    with a former deputy. It was during this time that he met Kucuk in
    his office. Dogan said retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin, another former
    military officer currently jailed as an Ergenekon suspect, was also
    present in this meeting. In a subsequent meeting, a man named Osman
    accompanied them. Also in this meeting, Kucuk told Dogan's deputy
    patron that three Christians in Malatya had to be killed because of
    their missionary activities. In this conversation, Kucuk also told
    Dogan that the "Dink deal" would be easy, adding that even the hit man
    had been chosen. The prosecution believes the person named Osman Dogan
    mentioned in his testimony might be Ergenekon suspect Osman Gurbuz,
    who was the would-be hit man for an alleged assassination the group
    planned for Pamuk.

    Sapanca executions Another witness' testimony included in the new
    dossiers suggests that Ergenekon is also responsible for a series of
    mysterious killings of mostly Kurdish businessmen in 1993 and 1994 in
    the Sapanca area, referred to as the death triangle because most of
    the bodies were dumped in the region between Sapanca, Hendek and Gebze.

    The victims killed in the death triangle include Kurdish businessman
    Behcet Canturk, who was allegedly involved in drug trafficking, and his
    driver, Recep Kuzucu. Canturk was kidnapped by men in police uniforms
    on Jan. 14, 1994. The bodies were found in a park in Sapanca the
    next day. Attorney Yusuf Ekinci, who was allegedly close to Canturk,
    was also found dead in Ankara on Feb. 25, 1994.

    According to the testimony of this witness, who used the code name
    Poyraz (Northern Wind) due to safety concerns, Sedat Peker, a mafia
    gang leader also implicated in Ergenekon, ordered the death of Tolga
    Atalay, who was killed in Mugla. In his testimony, Poyraz claimed
    that Atalay called him shortly before his death and said: "Peker has
    acted together with Veli Kucuk; they have done so many things. All
    of the bodies dumped at the Sapanca crossroads were the work of
    our organization. One of those killed was Canturk. They used me and
    now they have decided to do me in." Poyraz said Atalay was killed by
    Peker in the Datca district of Mugla after speaking against his boss,
    apparently under the influence of alcohol.

    The second murder case in the death triangle involved SavaÅ~_ Buldan,
    who was kidnapped along with his friends Adnan Yıldırım and Hacı
    Karay in Ä°stanbul on June 2, 1994. The bodies of the victims were
    found in Bolu on June 4. SavaÅ~_ Buldan was the husband of a Democratic
    Society Party (DTP) deputy, Fatma Buldan.

    On March 27, 1994, Fevzi Aslan, a car dealer in Ä°stanbul, and his
    nephew, Salih Aslan, were detained by men who introduced themselves
    as police officers. They were found dead in Sakarya the next day. A
    ballistics investigation revealed that the gun used in the murder of
    Canturk and was the same gun that killed Fevzi and Salih Aslan.

    On Feb. 4, 2007, a male body was found in Hendek. The body has still
    not been identified.

    Other people killed in the death triangle include Enis Karaduman,
    Mustafa Capar and Ekrem Caylan.

    Ergenekon leaked info to terrorists The new dossiers include evidence
    that Ergenekon gave information to terrorists during an attack on
    the Aktutun military outpost by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
    on Oct. 3, 2008.

    Another testimonial transcript included in the second indictment's
    additional dossiers claims that a terrorist using the code name Ape
    Huseyin frequently contacted a noncommissioned army officer named
    Kadri Celik, who provided information to the PKK militant. According to
    ex-PKK commander Bulent Dumlu, who testified on Dec. 4, 2008, to the
    Ä°stanbul Police Department, Celik was also in constant contact with
    PKK leader Murat Karayılan, as well as other members of the Turkish
    military. Celik left the military, but he still was in contact with
    some members of the military, according to Dumlu's testimony.

    The media had discussed security flaws in the Aktutun attack for
    days. The General Staff sued the Taraf daily over its allegations of
    negligence. The case is still being heard.

    Balbay on new coup plans According to other documents found in the
    dossiers, Cumhuriyet daily's Ankara representative Mustafa Balbay,
    who was also arrested as part of the Ergenekeon investigation, held
    frequent meetings with higher-ranking army officers.

    According to meeting minutes seized from Balbay's house during police
    raids, Balbay met with Gen. Necdet Timur, who was the Land Forces
    Commander at the time of Oct. 31, 1999. In this particular meeting,
    Gen. Timur asked, "What should be done, should we pull something like
    Feb. 28 again?" He was referring to the unarmed military intervention
    of Feb. 28, 1997, which overthrew a coalition government led by an
    Islamist party. A series of measures were taken at the end of this
    intervention to prevent religion from taking up a larger space in
    the society. To the general's question, Balbay replied: "No, we need
    something that would get results this time. You see what happens when
    you spread it out over an extended period."

    In another meeting held on Jan. 15, 2000, the minutes of which were
    recorded meticulously by Balbay in his diary, Balbay tells Land Forces
    Commanders Gen. Atilla AteÅ~_ and Timur as well as retired Gen. Dogu
    Aktulga that the only way to deal with an Islamist government is by
    "using a stick."
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