Ergenekon probe heats up with testimony of admirals

Vice Adm. Kadir Sağdıç and rear Adm. Mehmet Fatih İlğar were interrogated yesterday as part of the Ergenekon probe. Ergenekon is a terrorist organization accused of working to overthrow the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. Dozens of its suspected members, including members of the military, businessmen and academics, are currently in prison pending trial.

The details of the interrogation were not immediately shared with the press. On Monday, a public prosecutor summoned a senior general to testify as part of the probe into Ergenekon. It was the second time 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk was summoned to give testimony as a “suspect” in the probe. The general is required to go to the Erzurum courthouse within 10 days. If he fails to comply, an arrest warrant will be issued, and he will be taken to the courthouse by police.

Gen. Berk was the first general on active duty to be summoned to testify. Erzurum Public Prosecutor Osman Şanal is expected to interrogate the general about an alleged Ergenekon plot against certain religious orders and communities in the eastern city of Erzincan. Şanal first summoned the general to testify in December 2009. The general, however, refused to comply.

Şanal launched his probe last year after an Erzincan prosecutor, İlhan Cihaner, ordered an investigation into a number of religious communities in the city. In 2009, Justice Ministry inspectors uncovered irregularities in the investigation. A probe was launched into Cihaner on the grounds that he did not inform the justice minister about his investigation. Cihaner allegedly carried out the investigation illegally, in violation of established practices, and overstepped his authority.

The probe also found that the 3rd Army Command and the Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Command were involved in the plot. They are accused of manufacturing evidence and finding false witnesses as part of the plot against religious communities in Erzincan. The plot was part of a military plan titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism. The plan, drafted by a colonel on active duty, was intended to undermine the power of the AK Party, which would eventually lead to a military coup.

A public prosecutor summoned 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk to testify in the Ergenekon probe.

The plot was exposed by a Turkish daily in 2009. According to the plot, religious communities would be presented to the public as “terrorist organizations” through subversive plans. Members of the military were supposed to plant weapons and munitions at the homes of followers of religious communities. Police raids on these addresses would result in the arrest of those individuals. The public would then start regarding religious communities as having “terrorist intentions,” according to the plot.

Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor Sinan Kuş told reporters that Gen. Berk was expected at the courthouse to testify by Feb. 26. “He will be interrogated at the Erzurum courthouse. If he does not comply, legal procedures will be put into operation,” he noted.

Noncommissioned officer hid military documents at construction site

Police officers discovered three sacks of military documents at a construction site in Erzincan’s Yaylabaşı district on Monday. The documents belong to the 3rd Army and the Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Command.

Three construction workers were interrogated over the findings. The workers said they took the sacks to the construction site and hid them on the orders of the wife of Murat Yıldız, a noncommissioned officer. Yıldız was arrested last week as part of the Ergenekon probe. The documents largely categorized city residents on the basis of their races, religious tendencies and political views. Being an “Alevi,” “Sunni,” “Shiite,” Kurd” or “Caucasian immigrant” were the main reasons for categorization in the documents.

The construction workers said they were ordered to take the sacks to the construction site. “We did what they ordered us to do. It was not possible for us to know what was inside [the sacks],” they said.

Police failed to discover any documents that could constitute evidence of a crime at Yılmaz’s house last week. The documents at the construction site were discovered due to a tip from unidentified individuals.

Video shows plot order against admirals hidden in lieutenants’ house

On Monday, a Turkish TV station broadcast a video recording of a police operation at the house of naval lieutenants who are accused of plotting to assassinate two admirals.

According to the recordings, police discovered a piece of paper during the operation at the address, which read, “[Maj.] Levent Bektaş will send the details and date of the operation against admirals [Metin] Ataç and [Eşref Uğur] Yiğit through Col. Orhan Yücel.”

In July, seven naval lieutenants were arrested on charges of plotting to assassinate two admirals, Ataç and Yiğit. There were claims that the lieutenants were in close contact with Maj. Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of weapons unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district. That discovery was made as part of the investigation into Ergenekon.

Shortly after the arrest of the lieutenants, allegations emerged that police officers placed the assassination note in their home to ensure the detention of the lieutenants. The video recording, however, has refuted these allegations.

Upon the discovery of the note, police officers searched the kitchen and discovered a bomb and a large amount of rifle ammunition.

Last week, Adm. Yiğit defended the naval officers accused of plotting to assassinate him, saying: “My officers are accused of plotting to assassinate me. They would throw themselves in front of bullets if someone shot at me. While terrorists enter the country freely through the Habur border gate, my officers are accused of becoming members of an armed terrorist organization. I leave it all to the judgment of our people.”

He also said an announcement concerning assassination attempts against high-ranking military figures may come at any time, and added, “What saddens me is the fact that the blame is put on innocent officers.”