Reports this week claimed that the five lieutenants arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill two admirals allegedly received orders for the planned assassinations from two colonels, Tayfun Duman and Orhan Yücel. The police acted on an anonymous tip when conducting this week's operation into the lieutenants, who are also accused of involvement in the sex and drug trade in order to fund Ergenekon, a clandestine organization whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.
A four-and-a-half page anonymous letter, received by police on Feb. 15, also claims that the lieutenants are linked to the PKK. It claims that one of the lieutenants, identified in reports as Ü.Ö., regularly acquired illegal drugs from his relative E.K., who, according to the note, is involved with the PKK.
According to newspaper reports, the lieutenants were interrogated over their suspected links with the colonels. They denied the charges. There have also been claims that the lieutenants were in close contact with Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of munitions unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul's Poyrazköy district as part of the Ergenekon investigation.
The Military Prosecutor's Office has also launched an investigation into the claims.
Naval lieutenants Sinan Efe Noyan, Faruk Akın and Alperen Erdoğan were arrested on Tuesday. Two naval lieutenants were arrested Thursday evening on the same charges, but officials have not made details about the identities of these individuals public. Prosecutors accused the lieutenants of planning the assassination of two admirals, referred to as “Uğur” and “Metin.” At the initial hearing at the İstanbul 11th High Criminal Court, the lieutenants were charged with “being members of an armed organization” and were all arrested.
