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Recent detainees in Ergenekon probe related with mafia
The 28 detained on Thursday included retired soldiers and alleged underworld figures. The raids were carried out in İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Manisa, Diyarbakır, Kayseri, Sivas, Kars and Zonguldak.
The operation, launched under a warrant from the İzmir 10th High Criminal Court, was carried out against Ahmet Memiş -- an associate of Şahin -- and a criminal organization Memiş runs. Memiş has been implicated in various crimes from illegal debt collecting to assault and injury. A former special operations police chief and a chief surgeon were among those detained, according to initial reports.
A noncommissioned officer identified as Güven A. was also detained in the operation. Güven A. co-owns the Rekor Private Security Company together with Levent Göktaş, another Ergenekon suspect. He retired from the Tactical Mobilization Unit of the military’s Special Forces Command. Investigators believe he might be the new boss who replaced Şahin after Şahin’s arrest.
This was the second blow against Şahin’s group. In the 11th wave of detentions in the investigation, various police officers and military personnel who were allegedly on Şahin’s assassination teams had been detained. Eight military officers on active duty had also been detained in the same operation.
The third indictment prepared so far in the Ergenekon trial directs various accusations at Şahin, the founder and later deputy chief of the National Police Department’s Special Operations Unit.
The prosecution’s allegations against Şahin include the formation of a structure called S-1 comprising teams of police officers with experience in special operations. According to the prosecution, Şahin admitted in his testimony that he had done the preliminary work to form the S-1 teams, which, the prosecution says, would have been death squads carrying out assassinations, bombings and other attacks. In his testimony, Şahin admitted to having prepared a list of 150 to 300 people whom he believed would be good for the S-1 teams. However, he said this work was completed as part of an official and legal counterterrorism project.
He also said he was assigned by 7th Army Commander Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, currently on active duty, to set up a team of 300 officers to be employed in a new counterterrorism department. Kalyoncu also promised that Şahin would be undersecretary of the new unit. Şahin claimed he has been working to set up this new structure. He said a document titled S-1, listing military officers and police special operations unit members under the age of 30, found in his home during the police search was a list of officers to be chosen for the special force.
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