Chief terror suspect hosts major military drill

Officers are never suspended or discharged, regardless of the gravity of accusations leveled against them. The land forces commander at the time had praised one of the officers, saying, “I know him, he’s a good kid.” More than four years after the incident, it appears the two men are still on active duty, despite being in and out of court over the intervening period.

The General Staff has chosen to take a similar route with Col. Cemal Temizöz, arrested after the discovery of human remains in the southeastern Silopi district, observers note. Temizöz, who has been in jail for more than 11 months now, has still not been removed from his position. Col. Temizöz is being tried on charges of killing at least 20 people when he was in command in the Southeast in the ’90s.

Another case was that of Col. Dursun Çiçek, whose signature appears at the end of the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism, the same plot designed to undermine and finally overthrow the democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government that Berk and Cihaner were trying to put into action in their region. Çiçek also has not yet been dismissed from his position.

The indictment into Cihaner and Berk notes the cases launched against members of the clandestine Ergenekon network at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court and lists information on the structure and targets and other evidence regarding Ergenekon.

Earlier this year Gen. Berk was called to testify by former specially authorized Erzurum Prosecutor Osman Şanal, who was later stripped of his authority by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) for issuing an arrest warrant for Cihaner. Berk was summoned by Şanal in the investigation but still has not testified. Berk is accused in the indictment of membership in the Ergenekon terrorist organization. On Feb. 26 Cihaner’s office and home were searched, and he was detained. He was arrested on Feb. 27. He is being indicted for membership in a terrorist organization, falsification of official documents and blackmailing or threatening more than one individual.

The Sarıkamış drill, which started yesterday and is in its second and final day today, will be held under the responsibility of the 3rd Army and the direction of the 9th Army Corps. The military brigades participating are deployed on hilltops in camouflage. Tents are erected in these areas as well as igloo-type blocks built by compressing snow. The soldiers wear waterproof and thermal uniforms that are white, contributing to better camouflage.

Third Army Commander Gen. Saldıray Berk, the chief suspect in a case in which he stands accused of membership in a terrorist organization, is hosting a two-day military drill in the Sarıkamış district of Kars.

The drill is based on a scenario in which two allied units and their enemy units are at war. The drill seeks to test the response of the units deployed on land in the face of an airstrike, as well as testing their agility in snow and survival skills under heavy winter conditions. The capabilities of tank units on snow are also tested in the drill.

In the Sarıkamış drill held on Feb. 23, 2006, both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and then-Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök and all force commanders had participated. The 2008 drill, where President Gül was also expected to observe, was canceled due to an ongoing military operation on PKK bases in northern Iraq. Neither Gül nor Erdoğan included the 2010 drill on their agendas.

More from the indictment

According to the Erzurum specially authorized prosecutor’s indictment, Berk tried to scare off the prosecutors by having a military convoy of vehicles belonging to the Erzincan 3rd Army Command drive into Erzurum shortly after he was subpoened by prosecutors to testify. The indictment said the show gave the appearance of an attempt to intimidate the prosecution.

Indeed, the military convoy showing up is reminiscent of the military’s move during the Feb. 28 intervention of 1997 when tanks rolled through Ankara’s Sincan district, where in late January of that year the Iranian ambassador and the mayor of Sincan, a member of the Welfare Party (RP,) staged an anti-Zionist, anti-Arafat, pro-Shariah protest called “Jerusalem Night.” On Feb. 28, 1997 the half-military, half-civilian National Security Council (MGK) called upon the RP-DYP (True Path Party) coalition government to adhere to Atatürk’s “democratic, secular principles” and, to that end, to adopt some 20 recommendations, forcing the prime minister of the time, Necmettin Erbakan, to resign.