Three of them, lieutenants Sinan Efe Noyan, Faruk Akın and Alperen Erdoğan, were on active duty in the Gölcük district of northwestern Kocaeli province and were arrested on July 21 by court order after being detained. Prosecutors accused the lieutenants of planning assassinations of two admirals, identified as “Uğur” and “Metin.”
At the initial hearing at İstanbul's 11th High Criminal Court, the lieutenants were charged with membership in an armed organization and were all sent to prison. Various Turkish newspapers last week claimed that police discovered a note regarding the assassinations in the quarters of lieutenants Noyan and Akın during a raid.
“Wait for an order to assassinate Uğur and Metin,” read the note. The note also said the order would come from colonels Orhan Yücel and Tufan Duman. Three lieutenants were claimed to have received assassination orders from two colonels, Duman and Yücel. Two more lieutenants were arrested as part of the same investigation on July 23. With two more detained on Monday, the number of lieutenants arrested on charges of plotting assassinations of admirals has increased to seven.
There were also 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 ammunition unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul's Poyrazköy district. That discovery came as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.
The lieutenants are also accused of being involved in an illicit sex and drug trade operation in order to provide funds to Ergenekon. One of the lieutenants detained on Monday was sent to the Beşiktaş courthouse and interrogated by prosecutor Süleyman Pehlivan, who is conducting the investigation.
