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ANKARA: Turkish Deep State (Ergenekon) Arms Site Unearthed In Ankara

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  • ANKARA: Turkish Deep State (Ergenekon) Arms Site Unearthed In Ankara

    TURKISH DEEP STATE (ERGENEKON) ARMS SITE UNEARTHED IN ANKARA

    Journal of Turkish Weekly
    Jan 9 2009
    Turkey

    ANKARA - Turkish Police in Ankara, capital of Turkey, discovered
    a munitions site in an investigation into the Ergenekon, so-called
    'deep state' terrorist organization.

    Weapons, flamethrowers and hand grenades found buried under the ground
    appear to date from the year 2004. Other excavations are under way
    in various areas of the city.

    A large cache of weapons, ammunition and bombs was found yesterday
    buried underground in Ankara's Golbasi district, as a result of a
    police search based on a map found in the home of Ibrahim Sahin,
    a former head of the National Police Department's Special Operations
    Unit.

    The operation came at a time when Sahin had ordered the assassination
    of non-Muslim minority leaders in Sivas.

    Sahin was detained along with 36 others on Wednesday in the
    investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network of groups and
    individuals accused of trying to overthrow the government. Thirty
    varieties of explosives and bombs as well as three lightweight
    anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were found buried underground. The newspapers
    wrapped around the weapons were from the year 2004, the police
    said. According to the initial official list, there were a large
    number of bullets for 9mm guns, two LAV weapons, 10 hand grenades
    whose serial number had been deleted and 10 smoke bombs used in
    training with colored smoke. Another boxed explosive and an ignition
    mine were found in the first phases of the excavation, the police
    said. The materials found have yet to be examined thoroughly at a
    police crime lab. There were also plastic explosives buried.

    The excavation of the site started on Thursday and continued until
    midday. The teams resumed excavation on Friday and located the
    munitions.

    Excavations were also launched in the Bala, Mamak, Emek, Bestepe,
    Saklibahce and Ataturk Orman Ciftligi (Ataturk Forest Farm) districts
    of the city to locate more weapons possibly buried in these areas.

    The operation started when Ã~C...Ã~BÂ~^ahin, whose phone conversations
    have been tapped by police for at least two months, gave the order to
    finalize plans to assassinate Armenian community members in the city
    of Sivas. Twelve others were detained in Sivas during Wednesday's
    operation. Police also found shocking evidence that the group
    was plotting to kill prominent figures including Prime Minister
    Recep Tayyip ErdoÃ~Câ~@~^Ã...¸an, Former Chief of General Staff
    YaÃ~C...Ã...¸ar BÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¼ykanÃ~C &# xE2;~@~^Ã~B±t, Police Department
    Intelligence Unit Chief Ramazan AkyÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¼rek, journalist Fehmi
    Koru, author Orhan Pamuk and some politicians including members of
    the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

    * Gladio weapons fields

    The fields brought to mind a great number of NATO-made arms depots
    found buried underground during an investigation started by Italian
    prosecutor Felice Casson, who discovered the existence of Operation
    Gladio, a NATO stay-behind paramilitary force left over from the Cold
    War. In a panel he joined in Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°stanbul last April, Casson
    said these weapons were found buried in cemeteries, under churches
    and even in caves. Ergenekon is also thought to be a remnant from the
    original Turkish Gladio, which was founded against a possible Soviet
    invasion during the Cold War, but later turned into an organization
    trying to cut off Turkey's ties with the West. The retired generals
    arrested in the Ergenekon investigation seem to have an anti-EU,
    anti-NATO stance favoring a closer relationship between Turkey and
    Russia and Eurasian nations.

    Analysts said on Friday that the buried weapons
    might shed light on a number of murders committed in the
    GÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶lbaÃ~ C...Ã...¸Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~ B± area prior to the Susurluk
    investigation of 1996, which started when a former police chief,
    a southeastern tribal leader whose men were armed by the state to
    fight separatist violence and an internationally wanted mafia boss
    were involved in an accident near the small township of Susurluk while
    riding in the same car. The police chief and the mafia boss as well
    as his girlfriend, a former model, were killed in the accident. No
    serious arrests followed from the ensuing investigation, which had
    exposed, for the first time in modern Turkish history, a gang with
    links to the state.

    Some of the most significant unresolved murders were the assassination
    of Yusuf Ekinci, a lawyer of Kurdish origin, and the murder of retired
    Maj. Cem Ersever and his girlfriend. Investigators are examining
    possible links between the GÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶lbaÃ~C. .. Ã...¸Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B &#x C2;±
    weapons and unresolved murders in the area in the '90s.

    * Ergenekon suspects on the run

    Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Mustafa DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez, an Ergenekon suspect
    in whose houses in Sakarya and Ankara were found to contain dozens
    of bullets, hand grenades and weapons, is now reported to be a
    fugitive. On Wednesday DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez, who promised the police who
    called him on his cell phone to inform him that an arrest warrant had
    been issued for him that he would go to a police station "right away",
    disappeared shortly after the phone call. The police claim they arrived
    on Wednesday at the AdapazarÃ~Câ~@~^Ã~B± Central Command to capture
    DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez, but gendarmerie officers who said the area fell under
    gendarmerie jurisdiction said they would find DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez. Later,
    the gendarmerie told that police they had been unable to find
    DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez and that they believed he had escaped.

    Twenty-two hand grenades, five revolvers and a Kalashnikovs as well as
    8,300 bullets were found in a house belonging to the lieutenant colonel
    in Sakarya. The search in another house belonging to DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez
    in Ankara revealed three revolvers, 2 Kalashnikov rifles and a pair
    of night-vision binoculars.

    Thirty-seven in total were detained in the last wave of Ergenekon
    detentions on Wednesday, including six army members who are
    currently on duty as well as seven retired generals. In addition
    to DÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¶nmez, Bedrettin Dalan, a former mayor of the city
    of Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°stanbul, was also being searched by the police on
    Wednesday, but it soon turned out that he was in the US. However,
    some newspapers claimed on Friday was Dalan had evaded to the US
    after being tipped off on the Ergenekon operation.

    * Political clashes over Ergenekon

    On Thursday, one day after the high-profile detentions, the traffic
    in Ankara between institutions was intense. Chief of General Staff
    Gen. Ã~Câ~@~^Ã~B°lker BaÃ~C...Ã...¸buÃ~C&#xE2 ; ~@~^Ã...¸ visited both
    Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÃ~Câ~@~^Ã...¸an and President Abdullah
    GÃ~CÆ'Ã~B¼l, with no statement on the content of the talks but stating
    that they were indeed about the recent detentions in which some retired
    generals and current officers were taken into custody. Newspapers
    wrote yesterday that BaÃ~C...Ã...¸buÃ~C&#xE2 ; ~@~^Ã...¸ was seeking
    special treatment for military members. According to sources which
    spoke to various newspapers, BaÃ~C...Ã...¸buÃ~C&#xE2 ; ~@~^Ã...¸ demanded
    that military members should be invited to the prosecutor's office
    instead of being taken into custody.

    Sources also say that BaÃ~C...Ã...¸buÃ~C&#xE2 ; ~@~^Ã...¸ demanded that
    senior generals HurÃ~C...Ã...¸it Tolon and Ã~C...Ã~BÂ~^ener Eruygur,
    arrested last year as part of the investigation, be released pending
    trial.

    Basbug's visit on Thursday came after a 6-hour meeting of the Force
    Commanders on Wednesday evening, convened immediately after the
    detentions.

    * Accusations disrespectful to judiciary, says Sahin

    Also yesterday, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Ã~C...Ã~BÂ~^ahin responded
    to allegations from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)
    that the Ergenekon investigation had turned into a witch-hunt
    against the government's opponents. CHP leader Deniz Baykal claimed
    the operation was a revenge against the secular Republic and its
    supporters. Ã~C...Ã~BÂ~^ahin said, "Showing our prosecutors and judges
    because of their judicial activities to be "settling accounts with
    the Republic," is the highest form of disrespect that can be shown
    the judicial institution." Ã~C...Ã~BÂ~^ahin called on all segments
    to show the utmost effort not to cast doubt upon the judiciary.

    --Boundary_(ID_QnRDVd2PhKao25SeQcH78Q) --

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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