Suspicion persists over suicide of retired navy colonel

Retired Lt. Col. Tevfik Diker, a close friend of the late colonel, said the documents under Varımlı’s possession should be protected. “My friend was against anti-democratic formations. He had knowledge about many things as he served in critical positions. He was patriotic enough to not be afraid of deciphering what he knew. He would never work with anyone who saw himself as superior to the public. … He was always suspicious. He used to claim that his phone conversations were being wiretapped. He often asked me to unplug my phone when we were chatting,” Diker remarked.

Varımlı threw himself off his balcony while his wife and mother were at home. He hit the concrete pavement below and died at the scene. His body was taken to the Göztepe Teaching and Research Hospital after police and prosecutors examined it.

Star daily columnist Şamil Tayyar also questioned the suspicious suicide of Belgütay Varımlı. The columnist suggested in his latest column on Monday that the colonel was not the kind of person to commit suicide as he was a devout Muslim. Committing suicide is one of the greatest sins in Islam. “Let’s see what his colleague retired Lt. Col. Tevfik Diker says: ‘Varımlı was killed by Ergenekon. He knew about the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] secrets. He knew coup plans. He informed [former chief of General Staff Gen.] Hilmi Özkök about those plans. Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz should investigate Varımlı’s alleged suicide,” Tayyar wrote.

According to Tayyar, Varımlı played a significant role in the exposure of the Ergenekon terrorist organization, a clandestine group accused of plotting to topple the government. “One day, the colonel gave me a phone call and expressed his desire to meet with me. We met in my office at the newspaper. What had drawn my attraction was that he changed the appointment date three times before and called me from different phone numbers. He also changed the vehicle he was traveling in several times before he reached my office. When we met, he asked whether we could talk in a different room. We changed the room. We left our mobile phones in my office and he checked whether there was any bugging device anywhere. I must confess, he appeared paranoid at the time,” the columnist noted.

Tayyar went on to give details of his meeting with the late colonel. “He told me about his success in an investigation into Naval Forces Commander Adm. İlhami Erdil, his role in the prevention of the Sarıkız [Blonde Girl] coup attempt, and how he informed Gen. Özkök about the attempt. … He then said he would give me very important documents in the future. Before he left, he asked where he could pray the noon prayer. He prayed in a room we showed him and left,” Tayyar stated.

The columnist said the two met for a second time and later a third time. The colonel said he warned the government (without specifying which government) about the coup plans. “Varımlı came to visit me once again and asked me if I could help him meet with Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan and Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. I told him that I did not have the power to help him do that and recommended that he leave a note with the prime minister’s secretary about his desire to meet with Erdoğan. … Then there was a period of silence. He did not call me for a while. When he called again, he asked me if I had Öz’s phone number. I said no. He said there was a big ambush. That was our last talk,” Tayyar said.

According to Tayyar, the claims that Varımlı’s suspicious suicide could be the work of Ergenekon need to be addressed.

In the meantime, claims appeared on a number of Turkish Web sites that Varımlı was the “anonymous military officer” who sent letters and documents to Ergenekon prosecutors about a devious military plot to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Three letters were sent to the prosecutors in October and November.