Ergenekon suspect threatened to reveal PKK raid details

The confession, which was made to a fellow Ergenekon suspect during a phone conversation monitored by the police, confirms suspicions that some individuals in the military were aware of the planned attack.

The transcript of a phone conversation between İbrahim Şahin, a former senior police official who was the deputy head of the National Police Department's Special Operations Unit, and Fatma Cengiz, a civilian working for the Kayseri Air Landing Brigade at the time provides important clues as to what really happened on that day. Both Şahin and Cengiz are currently standing trial as Ergenekon suspects. In the transcript of the conversation recorded on Jan. 3, which was included in the third indictment prepared by the prosecution in the Ergenekon case, Şahin says that he talked to Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ.

Cengiz says: “Well, do they think it was easy for them to get to Aktütün? They better not get on my nerves, or I will disclose everything.” Cengiz says PKK terrorists are able to cross the border with the help of the gendarmerie.

On Oct. 3, 17 Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack by the outlawed PKK on the Aktütün military outpost in southeastern Turkey. In the same month, the Taraf daily published a series of reports suggesting there were serious security flaws at the outpost and that the attack had taken place despite prior intelligence acquired by the military.

The daily published aerial infrared images of the Aktütün area in Hakkari, the province bordering northern Iraq where the military outpost was attacked. The images taken by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on the day of the attack show a group of individuals laying mines around 9:35 a.m., about three-and-a-half hours before the attack. The group gets larger in the following images as more and more of these individuals -- who eventually attack the outpost -- take their positions on hilltops in preparation for the attack. The UAV camera then switches to the Aktütün military outpost, where the attack occurred. The terrorist raid was literally broadcast live on General Staff monitors. Taraf said this is concrete evidence that the security forces had been informed about every move made by the PKK terrorists.

Şahin pocketed Ağar’s money, claims woman

In related developments, Nurhan Yorulmaz, the mother of Special Operations police officer Oğuz Yorulmaz, who was killed in 2005, has also testified to the Ergenekon prosecutors. Her testimony as a witness has been included in the newest indictment.

Yorulmaz came under the spotlight last year when she told a newspaper that her son had committed numerous murders under the leadership of teams managed by retired Gen. Veli Küçük, one of the prime suspects in the Ergenekon case.

Yorulmaz told prosecutors that her son, who was investigated as part of the Susurluk affair of 1996, which had revealed connections between the government, the military and organized crime, had been sent money by former police chief and later politician Mehmet Ağar, but Şahin pocketed the money. “Mehmet Ağar sent tons of money to my son and his friends in jail [during the Susurluk investigation]. But Şahin gave my son only $100 and pocketed the rest. … When my son was acquitted, he went to Ankara to see Sedat Bucak. When Ağar saw Oğuz, he asked him if he had made any investments with the money, and then went crazy when he found out that Şahin gave them only $100.”

She also said she hadn't spoken publicly before because Special Operations officer Ayhan Akça came near her on the day of the funeral and said, “Mother, if you don't speak, all your needs will be met,” after which, she said she was too afraid to speak.

She said in addition to Küçük and Şahin, individuals identified in reports as T.Ç., M.Y. and M.A were part of the gang.

“Oğuz and his friends killed 94 people under their orders. They are responsible for my son's death,” she said.

Yorulmaz’s 2008 revelations

In her statements last year, Yorulmaz stated that her son was involved in more than 90 murders as a member of the Ergenekon terror organization. Yorulmaz also talked to a television network last year, claiming that some politicians are also part of Ergenekon. “I thought my son would be a policeman, but the state made him a gangster. They killed 93 or 94 people,” she said. She also claimed that Kurdish businessmen Ömer Lütfi Topal, Savaş Buldan and Behçet Cantürk were also killed by Ergenekon, which believed these individuals were supporting the outlawed PKK terrorist organization.

Yorulmaz's mother claimed that her son and his friends killed the murderers of former Motherland Party (ANAP, now ANAVATAN) deputy Alparslan Pehlivanlı. She said the prime minister at the time called Abdullah Çatlı after Pehlivanlı was murdered and said revenge should be taken. After that, she said, Çatlı ordered her son to kill Pehlivanlı's murderers.

She had said during the funeral of her son in 2005 that she wanted her son to be a policeman. “They have made my son a gangster. They did not protect my son. Ağar and Tansu Çiller should explain this. My son's death is related to the Susurluk case. They have murdered my son,” she said.