 |
Ergenekon lieutenant colonel’s suicide raises suspicions
Ten naval officers have been arrested so far as part of the assassination plot. Seven of them were arrested in July on charges of plotting to assassinate two admirals, Metin Ataç and Eşref Uğur Yiğit. There were claims that the officers were in close contact with Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of munitions unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul's Poyrazköy district. That discovery came as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.
An İstanbul court issued an arrest warrant for Tatar after his release due to his suspected links to Ergenekon.
A funeral ceremony was held for Tatar at the Karacaahmet Cemevi (Alevi place of worship) in İstanbul. His remains were later sent to Ankara for burial. The lieutenant colonel will be laid to rest in the Karşıyaka Cemetery today. Tatar was married with one daughter.
Tatar’s death has added to a series of suicides by members of the military, whose deaths have raised concern in society.
The suspicious suicides of the army personnel were brought back to Turkey’s agenda in November after a retired colonel, Belgütay Varımlı, reportedly killed himself by jumping off the balcony of his apartment in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district on Nov. 20.
Varımlı’s suicide sparked suspicion because he was known to be a devout Muslim and would not condone the idea of killing oneself since suicide is one of the biggest sins in Islam.
The ambiguity surrounding the suicide of retired Navy Col. Tanju Ünal, naval Capt. Olgun Ural and Lt. Col. Nursal Gedik has not been dispelled, either.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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 | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
