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[NEWS ANALYSIS] CHP deputies at work to discredit Erzincan probe
The probe is focused on attempts by now-jailed Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner and Gen. Saldıray Berk to put into operation a local plot that would increase tension in the region. According to the plot, followers of religious communities would be linked to illegal organizations, which would lead to detailed investigations. As a result of the investigations, those communities would be presented to the public as “terrorist organizations.”
CHP deputies, however, believe the probe is part of a plan by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to exhaust its opponents. The deputies claim that those detained as part of the probe thus far are Alevis and the probe is aimed to foment tension between the country’s Alevi and Sunni population.
On Dec. 20, CHP İzmir deputy Ahmet Ersin paid a visit to three National Intelligence Organization (MİT) officials who were arrested as part of the probe. The deputy later paid a visit to Cihaner. In a report he prepared as a result of his visits, Ersin directed harsh criticism against civilian prosecutors conducting the probe. The deputy also attached to his report a CD that included wiretap records of the suspects.
Asked how he obtained the CD, Ersin first said: “What’s wrong with this? Such CDs are passed on in society.” However, he later claimed that the CD was sent to him in the mail by an unidentified individual. He did not respond to allegations that he was given the CD by Cihaner.
There were earlier claims that Ersin pressured a witness who testified as part of the Erzincan probe to withdraw his statement. According to these allegations, gendarmerie officers in the region took Ersin to the witness, who goes by the codename Munzur. The meeting took place at a hotel in Erzincan in February. When news of the meeting made its way into the media, Ersin said he did talk to Munzur but that he had no idea who he was. “I wouldn’t have talked to him had I known that he was a secret witness,” Ersin said.
CHP’s Baykal acts as ‘Erzincan lawyer’ this time
Like his deputies, CHP leader Deniz Baykal is also a staunch opponent of the Erzincan probe. The politician targeted the probe on several occasions and accused the AK Party of working to undermine the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and MİT.
In 2009, Baykal declared himself a “lawyer for Ergenekon suspects,” claiming that the ruling party was ordering the wave of detentions as part of the operation. Ergenekon is a criminal network accused of working to topple the AK Party government. Dozens of its suspected members are currently in prison, awaiting trial.
Shortly after Cihaner’s arrest, Baykal called a press conference and accused prosecutors coordinating the Erzincan investigation of conducting an illegal probe. The CHP leader, however, expressed his satisfaction after the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) stripped those prosecutors of their powers.
In a separate speech, Baykal termed the Erzincan probe a “coup.” “A coup has been staged in Turkey. It has not been announced, but preparations for such a coup have been ongoing for a long time. Mass detentions, arrests, trials and ungrounded accusations are widespread in Turkey,” he noted on Feb. 20.
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