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Today's Zaman, Turkey
Jan 28 2008
Gov't, opposition face critical test over deep gangs
As the government seeks a consensus with the opposition Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) to solve the longstanding, controversial issue
of women wearing headscarves at universities, Turkish security
experts are complaining about lack of similar resolve by the
political leadership in extending a strong backing to prosecutors in
their latest attempts to unearth criminal gangs.
"Mushrooming acts of organized crime in Turkey are one of the root
causes of the country's existing economic and social problems. But so
far I have not seen strong resolve displayed by the government in
reaction to the latest operations against such gangs. The prosecutor
who has so far done a successful job should not be left alone and
should not share a similar fate as the Þemdinli prosecutor," said a
Turkish terrorism expert told Today's Zaman.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), together with
parties represented in Parliament, should have already gotten
together to debate the Turkish gang problems, parallel to the latest
police crackdown against an ultra-nationalist group calling itself
`Ergenekon,' the same expert recalled. But this has not been done so
far, he added.
Eight people including retired Maj. Gen. Veli Küçük; retired Col.
Fikri Karadað; a former defendant of the Susurluk gang, Sami Hoþtan;
and lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz were arrested by an Ýstanbul court early
on the morning of Jan. 27 over charges of inciting citizens to armed
uprising against the government and setting up, being a member of and
masterminding a terror group (that is, Ergenekon).
The arrests came as part of a crackdown on an ultra-nationalist group
that reportedly plotted to kill Nobel laureate novelist Orhan Pamuk
and Kurdish activists.
With the latest arrests, the total number of those put in jail has
reached 13.
The investigation into the alleged gang members was carried out
behind the shield of a secrecy law that restricts media coverage.
Küçük has been accused of organizing extra-judicial killings of Kurds
in the 1990s, but never stood trial. His name was also implicated in
the infamous Susurluk gang case back in the mid-1990s.
Kerinçsiz, meanwhile, is known for having initiated legal proceedings
against Pamuk and ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was
killed last year.
The latest operations came as part of an investigation that led to
the discovery of hand grenades and bomb detonators in a house in
Ýstanbul's Ümraniye district in June last year.
The names of those rounded up in the latest Ergenekon operations were
also implicated in several politically motivated attacks that shocked
Turkey over the past two years, including the murders of Dink,
Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and a senior judge.
The media have linked the suspects to the `deep state' -- a term used
to describe members of the security forces who act outside the law
for subversive purposes or to preserve what they consider Turkey's
best interests.
Prosecutors should receive political and legal backing
The fact that the latest operations against the Ergenekon gang
resulted in the arrests of people who had earlier acted as though
they were untouchables who could escape justice, has broken a myth in
Turkey, stressed Sedat Laçiner, head of the Ankara-based
International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/USAK).
Meanwhile, a senior Turkish security expert, speaking to Today's
Zaman, stressed that for the continuation and success of the
operations Parliament should display determination to the public and
to the prosecutors and declare that gangs must be brought to justice.
`This political leadership leg of the operations is still missing and
that carries a danger that Turkey may miss another golden opportunity
to put an end to the unlawful actions of those using the state in
their acts of organized crime,' said the same source.
The prosecutors should also be given a wide-ranging legal shield to
conduct their investigations in depth. In many cases those implicated
in investigations into organized crime are released due to lack of
evidence, Turkish legal experts point out. This does not mean that
those released were innocent but that existing laws hindered broad
investigations.
Former prosecutor allegedly works at a supermarket
If strong political backing of the prosecutors in the latest
operations does not emerge, they will also be left alone and might
face a similar fate as that of former Van prosecutor Ferhat Sarýkaya,
Turkish security experts warned.
Sarýkaya was stripped of his all duties by the Supreme Board of
Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) in 2006 when he implicated the names of
then Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaþar Büyükanýt, the current
chief of the Turkish General Staff, as well as some other commanders
in his indictment on the bomb attack carried out against a bookstore
in November 2005 in the Þemdinli township in the Southeast.
The two noncommissioned officers, who were initially given a 39-year
prison sentence over a bomb attack by a civilian court, were released
pending the outcome of the trial last year by a military court that
their files were later transferred to. The higher court decision that
ruled the trial be transferred to a military court had also ordered
that the trial start from scratch, rendering any previously given
sentences ineffective.
While they have been released, former prosecutor Sarýkaya is reported
to have been working at a supermarket owned by his father-in-law
somewhere in Turkey.
28.01.2008
LALE SARIÝBRAHÝMOÐLU
Jan 28 2008
Gov't, opposition face critical test over deep gangs
As the government seeks a consensus with the opposition Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) to solve the longstanding, controversial issue
of women wearing headscarves at universities, Turkish security
experts are complaining about lack of similar resolve by the
political leadership in extending a strong backing to prosecutors in
their latest attempts to unearth criminal gangs.
"Mushrooming acts of organized crime in Turkey are one of the root
causes of the country's existing economic and social problems. But so
far I have not seen strong resolve displayed by the government in
reaction to the latest operations against such gangs. The prosecutor
who has so far done a successful job should not be left alone and
should not share a similar fate as the Þemdinli prosecutor," said a
Turkish terrorism expert told Today's Zaman.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), together with
parties represented in Parliament, should have already gotten
together to debate the Turkish gang problems, parallel to the latest
police crackdown against an ultra-nationalist group calling itself
`Ergenekon,' the same expert recalled. But this has not been done so
far, he added.
Eight people including retired Maj. Gen. Veli Küçük; retired Col.
Fikri Karadað; a former defendant of the Susurluk gang, Sami Hoþtan;
and lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz were arrested by an Ýstanbul court early
on the morning of Jan. 27 over charges of inciting citizens to armed
uprising against the government and setting up, being a member of and
masterminding a terror group (that is, Ergenekon).
The arrests came as part of a crackdown on an ultra-nationalist group
that reportedly plotted to kill Nobel laureate novelist Orhan Pamuk
and Kurdish activists.
With the latest arrests, the total number of those put in jail has
reached 13.
The investigation into the alleged gang members was carried out
behind the shield of a secrecy law that restricts media coverage.
Küçük has been accused of organizing extra-judicial killings of Kurds
in the 1990s, but never stood trial. His name was also implicated in
the infamous Susurluk gang case back in the mid-1990s.
Kerinçsiz, meanwhile, is known for having initiated legal proceedings
against Pamuk and ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was
killed last year.
The latest operations came as part of an investigation that led to
the discovery of hand grenades and bomb detonators in a house in
Ýstanbul's Ümraniye district in June last year.
The names of those rounded up in the latest Ergenekon operations were
also implicated in several politically motivated attacks that shocked
Turkey over the past two years, including the murders of Dink,
Italian Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and a senior judge.
The media have linked the suspects to the `deep state' -- a term used
to describe members of the security forces who act outside the law
for subversive purposes or to preserve what they consider Turkey's
best interests.
Prosecutors should receive political and legal backing
The fact that the latest operations against the Ergenekon gang
resulted in the arrests of people who had earlier acted as though
they were untouchables who could escape justice, has broken a myth in
Turkey, stressed Sedat Laçiner, head of the Ankara-based
International Strategic Research Organization (ISRO/USAK).
Meanwhile, a senior Turkish security expert, speaking to Today's
Zaman, stressed that for the continuation and success of the
operations Parliament should display determination to the public and
to the prosecutors and declare that gangs must be brought to justice.
`This political leadership leg of the operations is still missing and
that carries a danger that Turkey may miss another golden opportunity
to put an end to the unlawful actions of those using the state in
their acts of organized crime,' said the same source.
The prosecutors should also be given a wide-ranging legal shield to
conduct their investigations in depth. In many cases those implicated
in investigations into organized crime are released due to lack of
evidence, Turkish legal experts point out. This does not mean that
those released were innocent but that existing laws hindered broad
investigations.
Former prosecutor allegedly works at a supermarket
If strong political backing of the prosecutors in the latest
operations does not emerge, they will also be left alone and might
face a similar fate as that of former Van prosecutor Ferhat Sarýkaya,
Turkish security experts warned.
Sarýkaya was stripped of his all duties by the Supreme Board of
Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) in 2006 when he implicated the names of
then Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yaþar Büyükanýt, the current
chief of the Turkish General Staff, as well as some other commanders
in his indictment on the bomb attack carried out against a bookstore
in November 2005 in the Þemdinli township in the Southeast.
The two noncommissioned officers, who were initially given a 39-year
prison sentence over a bomb attack by a civilian court, were released
pending the outcome of the trial last year by a military court that
their files were later transferred to. The higher court decision that
ruled the trial be transferred to a military court had also ordered
that the trial start from scratch, rendering any previously given
sentences ineffective.
While they have been released, former prosecutor Sarýkaya is reported
to have been working at a supermarket owned by his father-in-law
somewhere in Turkey.
28.01.2008
LALE SARIÝBRAHÝMOÐLU