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Arınç: Statement by the General Staff implicit admission of plot
The General Staff statement claimed that two Special Forces Command officers detained on suspicion of plotting to assassinate the deputy prime minister were in Arınç's neighborhood to gather intelligence about a military officer who was accused of leaking military information. “I acknowledge that the officers of the General Staff were there [in the neighborhood] for intelligence. But they had another purpose [other than following a military officer who had leaked information].
This statement is an implicit admission of the plot. I am a lawyer specializing in criminal law. Lawyers know what an implicit admission is,” Arınç noted.
Arınç also said an ongoing investigation would shed light on the incident.
Maj. İbrahim G. and Col. Erkan Yılmaz B. were detained on Saturday night in an operation by gendarmerie and police teams in the Çukurambar area of the Turkish capital. Both officers are assigned to the General Staff. Ankara police were informed in early December by unidentified persons that a plan to assassinate Arınç had been put into action.
Police teams also launched a search of the suspects’ houses, resulting in the discovery of several maps showing the houses of top government officials and ministers. A document showed that Arınç had been closely monitored by the two officers since March 2009. Several pages of hand-drawn sketches giving the addresses of President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin were also seized during the search. The sketches were sent to the forensics department of the Ankara Police for analysis to determine by whom they were drawn.
On Thursday Arınç told reporters at a press conference that he wants to believe that a team of would-be assassins is not nested within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
“We are engaged in politics. We have witnessed difficult days in politics. We have met people who were involved in illegal activities. We have seen what these kinds of people can do. But I’d like to believe with all my heart that a person who could commit such an act [assassination] against a deputy prime minister does not exist within the armed forces, Turkey’s most dignified and disciplined institution. I will be waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing judicial process,” he noted.
Arınç added that the conclusion to the investigation would reassure every citizen that they were once again able to lead a peaceful life in Turkey and that a state governed by the rule of law reigns over the country.
The deputy prime minister said he did not want to comment on the General Staff’s statement on the alleged plot, adding that he does not plan to file a criminal complaint at the moment.
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