The 23rd hearing in the trial of 18 suspects accused of involvement in the killing of three Christian missionaries at the Zirve publishing house in the eastern province of Malatya on April 18, 2007 convened yesterday. Joint prosecutor Özkan Yücel spoke to journalists outside the Malatya 3rd High Criminal Courthouse yesterday following the hearing. Explaining that his prosecution team has long believed there was a connection between his case and the discovery of an arms cache in İstanbul’s Ümraniye district later that year that began the investigation into Ergenekon, a shadowy deep-state crime network that stands accused of a number of murders and other atrocities spanning decades, Yücel asserted that a report prepared by İstanbul special prosecutors contains evidence linking the two cases.
The report concerns an ongoing, classified investigation into former Malatya Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Mehmet Ülger and two specialist sergeants. Yücel said that in yesterday’s hearing he asked the court to send an inquiry to the İstanbul Chief State Prosecutor’s Office over whether or not the Ümraniye weapons bust -- and therefore Ergenekon -- was in any way connected to the murders of the Christian missionaries. The panel of judges on the Malatya court denied this request, Yücel said, adding that a statement sent to them from the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court asserted that no connection had been detected between the Ümraniye incident and the Malatya killings.
Regardless, Yücel said that his prosecution was awaiting the results of the investigation into the recently unearthed Cage Operation Plan, allegedly prepared by Ergenekon, which sought to intimidate and assassinate Turkey’s prominent non-Muslim figures to put domestic and international pressure on the government. Yücel told reporters that his prosecution team had learned that as part of the investigation into Ülger, a report prepared by an İstanbul prosecutor endowed with special authorities contained information proving a connection between Ergenekon and the Malatya murders.
“As the file is classified, we don’t have access to it yet. … When the classified status is lifted, this report will also become part of the publishing house case. Prosecutors are continuing their investigation into the connection between the causes, and this is also our intention. We have made a request regarding the Cage Operation Plan and are trying to find evidence of a connection,” he said.
The next hearing in the Zirve case is to be held on Feb. 19, 2010.
