Gençoğlu was detained in Eskişehir and interrogated after being transferred to Erzurum due to his alleged involvement in a conspiracy in Erzincan. Gençoğlu was released last week following his interrogation.
Gençoğlu had alleged connections with a shady network in Erzincan where he was working before he was appointed to Eskişehir. The Erzurum Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into an alleged criminal network connected to Ergenekon, a clandestine organization charged with plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government, after a large amount of ammunition including hand grenades were found on Oct. 27, 2009 in the Erzincan reservoir. Two gendarmerie officers were arrested for their connection with Ergenekon and secrete caches of ammunition found in Erzincan. Furthermore, weapons and bullets were found in the home of one of the arrestees during the operation.
On the same day, Gençoğlu was detained in Eskişehir and transferred to Erzurum, where he was interrogated. Shortly after the colonel’s arrival in the city, a military convoy started an unplanned journey from Erzincan to nearby Erzurum, which raised suspicions as to whether it was in response to the detention of Gençoğlu.
Reports suggest that the gendarmerie and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) jointly concocted a plot to create false evidence implicating some religious communities in crimes by using phony witnesses. According to the plan, ammunition and bombs would be planted in the houses where followers of some religious communities lived, and these weapons would later be found during police searches. Thus, these religious communities would be categorized as “armed terrorist organizations.” Gençoğlu is suspected of links to this conspiracy.
