Commotion erupted over a 2002 conspiracy designed to remove Ecevit from office when the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court ruled on Saturday to examine all documents related to Ecevit's stay at Başkent University Hospital in Ankara as part of a probe into a criminal organization called Ergenekon, which is accused of working to overthrow the government.
The investigation will help shed light on events surrounding a conspiracy against the late prime minister in which a falsified medical report was to be issued to prevent him from serving as the head of government. Mehmet Haberal, the rector of Başkent University who was detained last year as part of the Ergenekon probe, was Ecevit’s doctor at the hospital. Ecevit died in 2006.
Rahşan Ecevit, who rushed her husband to another hospital after the emergence of such claims in 2002, has decided to make a statement on the issue after the expansion of the Ergenekon probe to include the suspected plot against Bülent Ecevit. The widow of the former prime minister is in fact authoring an autobiography, which is to include information about her experiences during the period in question. Although Rahşan Ecevit does not plan to testify to prosecutors conducting the investigation into Ergenekon, her expected statements will undoubtedly facilitate the investigation. In her statement, Rahşan Ecevit, is expected to note her belief that a plot to remove her husband from office was launched in 2001 by a group of individuals in cooperation with Hüsamettin Özkan, Ecevit’s old right-hand man.
 Evevit’s widow, who is said to have noted down every development between May 4, 2002, when Bülent Ecevit was hospitalized at the Başkent hospital, and May 15, 2002, when he was discharged, will also reportedly respond to claims that Evecit received incorrect medical treatment at the hospital. |
Evevit’s widow, who is said to have noted down every development between May 4, 2002, when Bülent Ecevit was hospitalized at the Başkent hospital, and May 15, 2002, when he was discharged, will also reportedly respond to claims that Evecit received incorrect medical treatment at the hospital. However, she is likely to refrain from directly accusing Ergenekon suspect Haberal but may ask for an examination of the documents on Ecevit’s treatment at Başkent University. She is also expected to say that she was not informed about a falsified medical report to prevent Ecevit from serving as prime minister.
DSP deputy Birgün also to make public what he knows
Democratic Left Party (DSP) deputy from İzmir Recai Birgün was the person who first brought the allegations to light in 2002. He told Today’s Zaman that he also plans to make public what he knows on the issue following the inclusion of the incident in the Ergenekon probe. Birgün, who was Ecevit’s security chief at the time, said if the Ergenekon investigation had not gone back to incidents starting 2001, it would have lost its credibility. According to information Birgün gave Today’s Zaman, retired Gen. Tuncer Kılınç, a former secretary-general of the National Security Council (MGK), was the first person to visit Ecevit in 2004 after Ecevit announced that he would give up politics ahead of the March 2004 local elections. “There is a need for a party that can get votes from the left and the right. As army officers, we believe the DSP meets our requirements. Leave your party to our friends. [Journalist] Tuncay Özkan [now an Eregenekon defendant] can do this job well. We can fight the AK Party only in this way,” Birgün quoted Kılınç as saying to Ecevit. Stating that Ecevit told Kılınç that his party’s doors were open to any who wanted to engage in politics in his party, Birgün said the former prime minister also told Kılınç that it was not possible to put a person who was not a party member in a position of party leadership. “Come and be a party member, work for the party leadership, and if my friends find it appropriate, anyone can become party leader,” Ecevit reportedly told the retired general.
