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Report: Ex-military chiefs also quizzed on Eruygur’s plans
According to Yeni Şafak, prosecutors conducting an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon -- a criminal network charged with working to topple the AK Party government -- questioned former Land Forces Commander Gen. Aytaç Yalman, former Air Forces Commander Gen. İbrahim Fırtına and former Naval Forces Commander Adm. Özden Örnek about a range of issues in addition to the failed coup attempts mentioned in Örnek’s journals. The ex-military chiefs were also interrogated about notes taken by Eruygur, apparently on plans for a coup d’état.
Eruygur -- who today heads the Atatürkist Thought Organization (ADD) -- is a prime suspect in the Ergenekon case. He was arrested and jailed last year, but was later released for reasons of health.
The notes were seized during a police raid at the office of the former general. According to the notes, Eruygur planned a coup by himself, which he called Moonlight, after the anti-democratic formation within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) gave up the Blonde Girl coup plan due to the unwillingness of some higher-ranking officers, the US attitude at the time and the democratic stance of Hilmi Özkök, the then-chief of General Staff.
Eruygur’s notes also suggested that retired Gen. Levent Ersöz -- also an Ergenekon suspect -- made a PowerPoint presentation to the generals serving in 2003 at General Staff headquarters on a potential coup. According to the presentation, tension would be manufactured in the country to facilitate the dissolution of the ruling AK Party.
Yalman, Fırtına and Özden were also questioned about Özkök’s testimony. Earlier this year the general testified as witness in the Ergenekon investigation.
The ex-military chiefs were released after 10 hours of questioning by prosecutors over what they knew about coup plans nicknamed Moonlight, Blonde Girl and the Glove, all mentioned in Örnek’s journal. In April 2007, the weekly newsmagazine Nokta published excerpts from a journal it said belonged to Örnek, which contained details of coup attempts dating back to 2004. An investigation was launched following the allegation -- not into Örnek and his coup plans but into Nokta Editor-in-Chief Alper Görmüş. The magazine was shut down several weeks after a police raid of their office. However, the journal was included in the second indictment in the Ergenekon trial in 2009 after a technical examination of the excerpts published by Nokta confirmed that they were authentic. The ex-military commanders denied all allegations.
‘Örnek is a bit of a dreamer’
The Sabah daily claimed on Tuesday that Yalman accused Örnek of being a bit of a dreamer, referring to the coup plans mentioned in his journal.
“I am not aware of any coup journal. Özden [Örnek] is a bit of a dreamer,” the general reportedly told Ergenekon prosecutors.
Yalman also denied that Özkök briefed him on coup preparations within the armed forces. “No. Özkök did not tell or ask me about preparations for a coup,” he noted.
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