Army officers detained over plot to assassinate Deputy PM Arınç

Both gendarmerie and police teams were involved in an operation on Saturday in Ankara’s Çukurambar area, where most of the residents are members of Parliament. Two members of the Special Forces Command were detained on suspicion of planning to kill Arınç. The two were released after interrogation. An aide to Arınç confirmed that the police had detained two men after receiving a tip about a possible assassination plot. The same person said, however, that s/he did not know the identity of the detainees or whether there was any truth to the assassination plot allegations.

Gendarmerie and police teams searched two vehicles parked near Arınç’s house followed by a raid on a nearby house. The police have been extremely secretive about the operation, but they announced that the two were detained in the early morning hours. Although the two were released after their interrogation, the investigation is continuing, police said. Later reports identified the two individuals as Maj. İ.G. and Col. E.Y.B., both assigned to the General Staff. According to reports on Monday, the two army officers who were detained during Saturday’s operations were sent to the General Staff after their release.

Gendarmerie and police teams searched two vehicles parked near Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç’s house followed by a raid on a nearby house on Saturday night. Two military officers were detained on charges of plotting to assassinate the minister.

The police said they also found a piece of paper with Arınç’s home address inside the car. Officials said the note was seized when the two suspects were trying to destroy it. The police said the houses searched Saturday night were the homes of the two officers. They also stated that computers and various documents were seized during the search. In the early afternoon Ankara Police Chief Orhan Özdemir was summoned by then Office of the Prime Ministry, where sources said Özdemir had a meeting with Arınç. The police chief did not make any statements as he left the building.

Arınç on Saturday’s detentions

Speaking on Sunday in the cities of Manisa and İzmir, Arınç implicitly criticized the opposition, accusing them of being partially responsible for potential acts of violence against members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Recalling that the opposition had criticized the government’s Kurdish initiative, which seeks to end separatist violence by extending rights to Kurds, saying the government were “traitors,” Arınç said, “If you continue with this mentality, if you insist on seeing us as traitors, you will turn us into targets for some groups.”

Addressing the leaders of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Arınç said: “Would it make you happy if something happened to those you consider your enemies? Will you be shouting chants of victory if someone you don’t like is crawling on the floor? Would that make you happy? Do you think that you would have no responsibility as instigators of the ensuing consequences?”

Cage plan document

In late November a document known as the Cage plan, which detailed plans to assassinate public figures and was allegedly prepared by a group in the military, was acquired by prosecutors conducting the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government. Earlier in December a report by the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) announced that the document appeared to be authentic. The report has also established that the signature that appears on the document belongs to Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe.

The discovery of the Cage plan follows the exposure of a similar military plot called the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, which details a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plan to destroy the image of the AK Party government and the faith-based Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Ergenekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the investigation into Ergenekon. Dozens of Ergenekon members, including businessmen, military officers and journalists, are currently incarcerated while standing trial. A colonel named Dursun Çiçek is believed to be one of the key figures in the plot row. He has been arrested and released twice during the investigation, which was met with a high level of frustration and outrage. Dursun’s signature appears on the action plan, and prosecutors are still investigating who gave the colonel the order to prepare such a plan.

Başbuğ’s statement

Observers also note that the arrests come after a speech that could be perceived as potentially threatening made on Thursday by Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ. The top army general accused intellectuals and writers of falsely associating the TSK with illegal schemes that allegedly cost the lives of many privates serving in the army. In this speech he said the military was “ready to fulfill its duties” imposed on it by law, in what was interpreted as a covert threat.

Başbuğ said there was a psychological war being waged against the TSK. Başbuğ also asked “members of the judiciary” to be more “sensitive” about information provided by anonymous witnesses and tip-off letters sent to prosecutors investigating the Ergenekon case. This was interpreted as Başbuğ asking the prosecution not to share with the media details of anonymous witness testimony and letters allegedly sent by insiders from the TSK. He said in such situations, collaboration and exchange of information with the TSK would prevent “conflict among state agencies.”