 |
Ergenekon prosecutors initiate new probe into Bingöl attack
According to the report, a survivor of the attack was questioned about the incident by Ergenekon prosecutors and by the İstanbul Police Department’s Counterterrorism Unit. Four other individuals were also summoned to testify to prosecutors. They are expected to be interrogated by Ergenekon prosecutors in the days ahead.
Thirty-three unarmed soldiers were executed on the Bingöl-Elazığ highway in 1993 while they were traveling to join their military units. Since then, there has been speculation that the soldiers were killed to prevent finding a solution to Turkey’s terrorism problem at a time when the government was involved in negotiations with the now-jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, and preparing to offer amnesty to members of the PKK. The attack shelved the government’s plans for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question at the time.
Earlier this year, Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik pointed to a link between Ergenekon, a terrorist organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government, and the PKK in the Bingöl attack.
Ergenekon prosecutors are reportedly focused on a number of questions left unanswered after the attack. The fact that soldiers were sent to join their military unit unarmed and not accompanied by armed soldiers has sparked serious questions over whether the attack could have been the work of the “deep state,” which opposed the settlement of the Kurdish question.
One of the survivors of the Bingöl assault, Erdal Özdemir, claimed that they would not have been targeted in a terrorist attack if they had been allowed to join their military units individually. “We paid them [the military] the fare, but sent us in a civilian vehicle. We were not accompanied by a military vehicle or soldiers. However, we were supposed to have been traveling in an armored vehicle. So, why didn’t they allow us to join the military unit on our own? That would have been more secure,” he stated.
Another survivor, G.D., said he was ready to tell prosecutors all he knew about the Bingöl attack. “Was there anyone who leaked information to the PKK about the fact that we would be traveling to the military unit unarmed? Was it normal for bus drivers to stop for a rest frequently on their way to a critical destination? Did they [the military] conduct an in-depth investigation into the drivers they entrusted us to?” he asked.
Erkan Omay, a friend of another survivor of the attack, Osman Partal, said his friend was afraid of speaking to the press about the Bingöl assault. “Osman said he was attacked [by people] with guns in front of his house after he spoke to reporters. He is afraid for his life,” Omay noted.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AMANDA PAUL |  |
||
| Ukraine: a lost country | |||
| MÜMTAZER TÜRKÖNE |  |
||
| The 52nd anniversary of May 27 | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ARZU KAYA URANLI |  |
||
| On Memorial Day a few words to make your day memorable | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| CUMALİ ÖNAL |  |
||
| Critical months for Egypt | |||
| DOĞU ERGİL |  |
||
| Qualities of power | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| JOOST LAGENDIJK |  |
||
| Europe can’t have it all. Or can it? | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| MELİH ARAT |  |
||
| Handmade | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
