Recording: Gen. Yalman exposed Ergenekon’s army leg

The voice featured in the recording says Yalman informed Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Özkök about some former commanders in 2003 and 2004. “Gen. Yalman, these [words] will be harsh but, is the man who once spied on all commanders. He betrayed us while talking with the chief of General Staff. He is a very dirty man. March 19, 2003. This is a critical date for the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK]. He went and informed Özkök about these commanders. He betrayed Şener [Eruygur] Pasha, Hurşit [Tolon] Pasha, me, [Gen.] Atilla [Uğur], Kemal Yavuz Pasha, Tuncer Kılınç Pasha, [Gen.] Erdal [Şenel] Pasha,” Ersöz says in the recording. All officers he mentions are currently defendants in the Ergenekon trial. Retired generals Eruygur and Tolon were both released for reasons of health pending trial. Retired Gen. Şenel, who was detained in January of last year, was also released pending trial.

The voice in the recording also says the only institution other than the judiciary that was granted the duty to protect the republic was the TSK. “I stated that I am here due to an unfortunate indictment prepared by the prosecutors, with whom we were once on the same side. However, the only institution that is granted the duty to protect the republic by law is the TSK, of which I am a member. I worked for this [to protect the republic] for 30 years. Now, we are on different sides. One is accusing and the other is being accused,” he says. Article 35 of the Internal Service Regulation of the army gives the military the duty to protect and secure the Turkish Republic from “internal threats.”

Ersöz also mentions a recent crisis that erupted last year over the new positions of the majority of judges and prosecutors awaiting appointment. The recording confirms the claims that the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HYSK) attempted to replace judges and prosecutors conducting the Ergenekon trial.

The voice featured in the recording quotes a lawyer who mentions HSYK Deputy President Kadir Özbek. “He [the lawyer] says the current deputy president [Özbek] is his fellow countryman. This lawyer is an honest man. He says he [Özbek] is an Alevi, and he is a real jurist. He says he [Özbek] is not deterred by such things. Otherwise, this trial [into Ergenekon] would not have come to a deadlock. He [the lawyer] says if few of them [Ergenekon prosecutors] are changed, the course of the case changes,” the voice recording of Ersöz says.

The Justice Ministry and the HSYK were in a stalemate in June of last year due to the latter’s desire to replace high-profile judges and prosecutors. Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin strongly opposed such a move, stating that it would deal a serious blow to investigations into illegal groups in the country.

The idea of replacing senior judges and prosecutors came from HSYK member Ali Suat Ertosun, who has suspected links to some of the suspects standing trial in the Ergenekon case. After he demanded the removal of prosecutors and judges in the Ergenekon case, various newspapers claimed that he participated in 13 secret meetings held by army officers at the Kent Hotel in İstanbul. In these meetings, participants reportedly discussed the country’s political landscape and made confidential decisions.

Kent Hotel meetings

In the same recording, Ersöz says he also attended one of the Kent Hotel meetings and gives further information about the participants. “I also attended one of these meetings. A prosecutor friend of mine invited me, and I went there. It was around May 2006 or something. ... Şener [Eruygur] Pasha, Hurşit [Tolon] Pasha, Gazi University Rector [Kadri Yamaç] and [former Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals] Sabih Kanadoğlu were also there. [Former] head of the Judges and Prosecutors Association [YARSAV] [Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu], [former Interior Minister] Sadettin Tantan, former Council of State and Supreme Court of Appeals members, [journalists] Emin Çölaşan and Mustafa Balbay were also there. Gen. Yalman was not there, although he was a member of Encümen-i Daniş [Consultation Council, a secret group that is composed of members of the state bureaucracy, retired military officers and ambassadors.] Şener Pasha was there.”

The Kent Hotel meetings are also mentioned in the second Ergenekon indictment, which notes that some of Ergenekon’s decisions were made at these meetings. Retired generals Eruygur and Tolon and journalist Balbay are currently standing trial in the Ergenekon case. The Cumhuriyet daily’s Ankara representative, Balbay, who is accused of “inciting the people to armed revolt against the government,” is currently under arrest.