[Event of the week]
‘Cosmic’ rooms search proves to be first investigation of military crimes

Thousands of Shiites in Turkey, in places such as İstanbul, Iğdır and Kars, mourned the massacre of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the son of Imam Ali, and 72 of his companions in 680 in Karbala, part of modern-day Iraq, on the 10th day of the Islamic month of Muharram. Ceremonies in İstanbul took place in the Halkalı quarter’s Zeynebiye neighborhood. Arriving in Aşure Square, thousands of people in black garb mourned the tragedy, which took place 1,330 years ago.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with members of his Cabinet who are part of the influential National Security Council (MGK) to review recent developments concerning the government’s democratization initiative, which envisions expanding the rights of the country’s Kurdish population. Erdoğan’s meeting with the three deputy prime ministers -- Bülent Arınç, Cemil Çiçek and Ali Babacan -- Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, Interior Minister Beşir Atalay and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, all members of the MGK, a council that brings together top civilian and military officials, was also attended by Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Murat Özçelik.

Dec. 27 Sunday

The probe into an alleged plot by military officers on active duty to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Arınç deepened, albeit with difficulty because of Special Forces Command officers who resisted the search of their facilities by specially authorized civilian prosecutors on Saturday. The search continued on Sunday despite their resistance.

The Interior Ministry launched an investigation into the handcuffing of 35 suspects, including some mayors, who allegedly have links to the urban arm of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The fact that suspects in Diyarbakır were handcuffed while on their way to give testimony to public prosecutors also led to outrage among some segments of society.

 The monthly income necessary to adequately feed a family of four, referred to as the hunger line, increased to TL 795 this month from TL 778 last month, according to the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Türk-İş).

Dec. 28 Monday

Civilian prosecutors and police officers continued their search of two top-secret rooms at the Ankara headquarters of the Tactical Mobilization Group, a unit under the General Staff’s Special Forces Command, for the third day.

As he paid a visit to the Palestinian Embassy in Ankara in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people a day after the first anniversary of a deadly Israeli offensive in Gaza, Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu reiterated Ankara’s call for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Speaking to reporters during his visit to the Palestinian ambassador to Turkey, Nabil Maarouf, Davutoğlu said the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is still continuing, while also recalling an aid conference on the Gaza Strip held in March in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the international community made promises of assistance for the Palestinian victims which they later failed to honor.

The Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Mayor Osman Baydemir over foul language he used last week after the detention of several former and current mayors in the Southeast in simultaneous raids against the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).

Six people were detained on charges of assisting and harboring terrorists in connection with the deaths of seven soldiers in the Reşadiye district of Tokat. After preliminary questioning, four of them were released while the interrogation of the two remaining suspects continued at the Reşadiye district gendarmerie headquarters.

Turkey’s automotive exports have taken a drastic dive since the beginning of the financial crisis, retreating to figures not seen since 2006 by the end of the first 11 months of 2009. According to data provided by the Uludağ Exporters Union (UİB), auto exports from Turkey amounted to $13.9 billion in the first 11 months of 2009, while the country saw $22.96 billion in total auto exports in 2008.

Dec. 29 Tuesday

The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court ordered security forces to apprehend pro-Kurdish politicians Ahmet Türk, Aysel Tuğluk, Selahattin Demirtaş and Emine Ayna and bring them to court to give testimony in cases in which they are defendants. The cases involve charges of promoting the cause of a terrorist organization.

The General Staff said it expected a search carried out by investigators at the Special Forces Command’s top-secret document archive, sparked by the detention of two military officers suspected of plotting to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Arınç on Dec. 19, to continue for some time. The General Staff released a statement saying the search was being carried out in accordance with the law and noting that it was likely to be lengthy.

A statement made by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) claimed that there is no unit called “JİTEM” under the General Staff. The statement, sent to the Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court, came in response to the court’s questions regarding JİTEM in reference to allegations about the existence of a death unit called JİTEM established within the gendarmerie to crush separatist terrorism. JİTEM is believed to be behind the disappearance of countless Kurds in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast in the mid-to-late 1990s.

In a move that came as a surprise to many, Ertuğrul Özkök, the controversial editor-in-chief of the Hürriyet daily, resigned from his post at the newspaper, which he had occupied for the past two decades.

Dec. 30 Wednesday

 International award-winning film director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, calligraphy and gilding artist Uğur Derman and Sabancı Holding board chairwoman Güler Sabancı, representing the Sakıp Sabancı Museum (SSM), were honored with the 2009 President’s Culture and Art Grand Awards at a ceremony at the Çankaya presidential palace.

 A village head, or muhtar, was arrested on charges of aiding and abetting terrorists in connection with the deaths of seven soldiers in Tokat’s Reşadiye district. The attack, which happened on Dec. 10, also resulted in the injury of three soldiers. It was launched as gendarmes were patrolling near the village of Sazak in Reşadiye.

 The granddaughter of the former leader of the now-defunct Democratic Society Party (DTP), Ahmet Türk, was sentenced to nine years, seven months in prison on charges of membership in a terrorist organization and disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization. The sentence was handed down by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court. Ruken Türk, a freshman at Dicle University, was detained during an illegal demonstration at the university in April.

The Competition Board levied a fine of TL 36.1 million against Turkey’s leading mobile phone operator, Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri, for violating Law No. 4054, which protects competition. The board started investigating the company on Oct. 9, 2008, and issued its final verdict on Dec. 23, 2009, after evaluating the results of the investigation, the written and oral defenses of the company and all relevant documents.

The Doğan Group announced changes in the administrative structure of Doğan Group companies following the resignation of empire builder Aydın Doğan. Doğan Holding and Doğan Yayın Holding will be run by professional managers in the new period under the chairmanship of Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, who will be stepping down from her position heading the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) on Jan. 21.

Dec. 31 Thursday

After the publication of the opinion of the Constitutional Court regarding the closure of the pro-Kurdish DTP in the Official Gazette, its chairman, Türk, and former co-Chairman Tuğluk, stripped of their parliamentary immunity, immediately went to a courthouse to testify in cases in which they are charged with promoting the cause of a terrorist organization.

The Gendarmerie General Command announced in a written statement that it has no unit called JİTEM and that the command’s intelligence activities are carried out by the Gendarmerie Intelligence Group Command. The statement came only two days after the General Staff issued a statement claiming that there is no unit called “JİTEM” under the General Staff.

Two students were killed and 20 other people were injured in Ankara’s Polatlı district when a school bus collided with a car, causing the bus to overturn.

The number of traffic accidents in Turkey increased by 45 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year, rising from 490,253 accidents in 2008 to 711,634. According to Traffic Insurance Information Center (TRAMER) data, İstanbul, home to 2,718,878 vehicles, saw the largest number of traffic accidents and those causing the most financial damage. While 194,037 accidents took place in İstanbul in 2008, this figure rose to 264,455 in 2009.

Jan. 1 Friday

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu arrived in Jeddah, his first official visit abroad in 2010, at the invitation of Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. Davutoğlu went to the Kaaba in Mecca on the first day of his visit.