HSYK member Ertosun’s response to allegations seen as unsatisfactory

Other allegations Ertosun responded to involve the death of an inmate who was part of one of the most shocking assassinations in Turkey in the late '90s and his role in a highly controversial operation into prisons with a significant level of inmate fatalities.

The first issue Ertosun addressed was the controversy sparked when journalist Can Dündar said last week that despite having arranged an interview with Mustafa Duyar, one of three suspects involved in the 1995 murder of businessman Özdemir Sabancı, the meeting could not take place as Ertosun, who was then head of the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Centers, intervened and prevented it. Dündar said Duyar's murder in 1998 came a few days after the meeting was to take place. There have been various claims that the Sabancı murder was orchestrated by Ergenekon, a clandestine gang that allegedly plotted to overthrow the government.

In yesterday's press conference, Ertosun said he himself had requested a probe into his own role in Duyar's killing. To back up his claims, he showed this petition to members of the press. “At the end of the investigation, they decided no further action was necessary. Individuals at the Afyon Prison [where Duyar was killed] were also investigated. The person who allowed the gun to enter the prison was the director, and he was prosecuted. I was appointed as the general directorate [of Prisons and Detention Centers] on Dec. 16, 1998. Can Dündar wanted to talk to Duyar on the anniversary of the Sabancı murder. The ministry granted permission, despite my opposition. I had said this would affect the judicial process. The interview never took place because Duyar asked for money, which was relayed to Can Dündar. He made no accusatory statements against me at the time, but has brought this up 10 years after the incident. This is what happened,” he argued.

HSYK member Ali Suat Ertosun yesterday held a press conference to reply to various allegations surrounding his alleged role in a HSYK attempt to replace Ergenekon judges and prosecutors. Vakit correspondent thrown out of hall Confusion briefly filled the hall in which Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) member Ali Suat Ertosun held a press conference yesterday when Vakit daily correspondent İsmail Uğur was removed from the hall after asking a question. During the question and answer section, Vakit correspondent Uğur asked Ertosun if he would recommend that younger judges and prosecutors hold meetings with “members of an illegal terrorist organization,” referring to Ertosun's meetings with suspects in the Ergenekon trial. When Ertosun replied, saying he had had dinner with a friend and criticized the question as loaded, bodyguards removed Uğur, who they claimed had not shown his press card when entering the hall. Ertosun then asked what was going on and requested that Uğur be brought back in. “This happened outside my knowledge. Like I said, I am ready to answer every question. They will now turn this incident into a big thing. I am not against freedom of the press. What happened was beyond my control.” The press conference resumed after Uğur was allowed back into the hall. Uğur later told members of the press that he had shown his press card, as necessary, prior to entering the hall.

Dündar, who spoke to a television station minutes after Ertosun's press conference ended yesterday, said he was not satisfied. “Well, what he says confirms what I wrote. I claimed that I had asked the ministry for permission to hold an interview. The minister granted permission. He confirms this. He said the minister granted permission despite his opposition. I had said that this was prevented by the bureaucracy of the Justice Ministry and in particular by Ertosun. He also confirmed that Duyar had asked for money and that this is why they changed their mind. That could have been fixed. Someone could have talked Duyar out of demanding money. Mr. Ertosun also said he did not want the meeting to take place, fearing this would affect the judicial process. True, but it is also true that at the time other interviews took place with many inmates. There is a double standard here.”

Dündar said he felt Ertosun's explanation was inconsistent. In yesterday's press conference, Ertosun also recalled that he had been awarded a Supreme Service Medal by the state for his extraordinary performance in reforming prisons as well as improving Turkey's image abroad.

Kent Hotel meetings

Also during yesterday's conference, Ertosun responded to claims that he frequently attended meetings with several Ergenekon suspects. After he demanded the removal of prosecutors and judges in the Ergenekon case two weeks ago, various newspapers claimed that he participated in 13 secret meetings held by army officers at the Kent Hotel in İstanbul. In these meetings, participants reportedly discussed the country's political landscape and made confidential decisions.

The Kent Hotel meetings are also mentioned in the second Ergenekon indictment, which notes that some of Ergenekon's decisions were made at these meetings. A photograph showing Ertosun walking toward the Kent Hotel together with Ergenekon suspect Engin Aydın was published in various Turkish newspapers last week.

He first said a smear campaign launched against him actually had the purpose of casting a shadow on judicial impartiality and the HSYK. He added that the HSYK's proposal to change or reappoint prosecutors and judges was done only in accordance with the law and as stipulated in the Constitution, in response to allegations that the HSYK might be trying to interfere with the Ergenekon investigation. “If there is anything that can be considered as hijacking or piracy, this is not HSYK members expressing their opinions freely, but the attack of certain press organs, which are being directed by a single hand. It should not be forgotten that the HSYK is not a place like a notary public, which formally approves everything that is given to it. HSYK members can put forth their own proposals, and when they do that, they take as their starting point the institutional identity of the judiciary and the independence of courts, and they rely on objective measurements.”

Osman Kaşıkçı, the dean of Fatih University's faculty of law, said he did not think the explanation was sincere, stating: "About the picture and Engin Aydın, I think it is most dangerous that he has meetings with suspects, given his position. He should act differently from ordinary people. We cannot treat this as an ordinary friendship."

Servet Armağan, a professor of constitutional law, also agreed, saying Ertosun's explanation implied that he was admitting his relationship with Ergenekon suspects. Armağan said the Justice Ministry should start an investigation.

Ertosun to file investigation request over photo

Ertosun said it was not only unethical to publish a photo of him taken secretly but also illegal. “I worked with Aydın for two-and-a-half years. Our families also know each other. We met in the middle of Kızılay [Square in Ankara]. We could have met at a secret place had we wanted to,” he said. He speculated that the photograph might have been taken by state agents, a possibility he said raises serious concern. He also said he would petition the Ankara Prosecutor's Office to find out who took the photograph. He noted, however, that the photograph could have been taken illegally, which he said was an even more serious problem.

Journalist Dündar, who shared his opinion on the speech after the press conference, said: “I think he is right about one thing. If a member of the Supreme Court of Appeals is being followed, someone should do something about that. True, I have friends among Ergenekon suspects, too. But I think a higher judiciary member continuing his friendship with a suspect casts a shadow on the judicial process. It is also wrong that this photograph was given to the press, but two wrongs don't make a right,” he said.

Refuses to resign

Ertosun also responded to the allegation that he had tried to protect Col. Cemal Temizöz, who was arrested in April in relation to human bones found in wells in the Southeast after excavations that were part of an investigation related to Ergenekon. A few weeks ago, Ertosun demanded that prosecutors carrying out the Temizöz investigation along with those investigating Ergenekon be replaced. He said even though he had been to Kayseri, where Temizöz was stationed, the dates of his visit (March 6-7) as a guest of the regional gendarmerie commander, Gen. Ali Aydın, coincided, as he had found out, with Temizöz's vacation (March 3-10). “This alone shows how baseless the accusations directed at me are,” he said. He also noted that he did not meet with Temizöz following this.

Ertosun also said he was not going to resign as “there is no reason” for him to do so. However, in a comment after the conference, Reşat Petek, a former public prosecutor, said that "Ertosun in the speech openly said that it was the HSYK's right to intervene in an ongoing judicial process. I don't find his explanations on Ergenekon and the photograph satisfactory. Saying someone is ‘my personal friend' is not enough. He made no convincing arguments. He talks about the medal he was given, but this is not the theme of the day. He should resign; he was unable to convincingly clear up many controversies."

Meanwhile, Bekir Bozdağ, head of the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary group, said he believed Ertosun, as an HSYK member, did not have the right to speak. "It would have been better if he had not held this press conference," Bozdağ said, adding that Ertosun was not authorized to make public statements and that the speech could mislead the Supreme Court of Appeals.