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Footage of hit man exploring Council of State also erased
The reports claim that cameras captured Arslan exploring the building one day before the attack, but this footage was erased by unidentified individuals. The dailies argued that technical expertise was needed to wipe the footage and that the perpetrators could face a heavy penalty under the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
Eyewitnesses say Arslan entered the Council of State on May 16, 2006, and inspected the building. He tried to open some doors leading to the offices of senior Council of State judges. People reportedly warned security guards at the building about Arslan and his suspicious behavior.
However, Arslan was neither stopped nor questioned by the guards. On May 17, 2006, Arslan, a lawyer, shot at members of the Council of State, killing a senior judge. The hit man said he attacked the court to protest a ruling it had made against the headscarf, but ties were later revealed between Arslan and Ergenekon, a criminal network accused of working to foment chaos in society in order to trigger a coup d’état.
The Council of State building was guarded by the OYAK Security Company, which largely employs retired military officers. Shortly after the attack, claims emerged that the security cameras at the building had stopped working before the shooting and were out of order at the time of the attack.
However, a recent report by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) suggests that footage from the security cameras at the Council of State had been deliberately destroyed after the attack. The report also says TÜBİTAK was able to recover some of the footage. The unrecoverable parts include the day of the assault and the previous day.
Questions left unanswered
With the TÜBİTAK report, many questions have emerged about the motive behind the Council of State shooting and the figures who may have deleted the security camera records.
OYAK officials, however, have remained silent since the emergence of the report. They are expected to respond to questions over whether the alleged deletion of footage of Arslan investigating the Council of State building was aimed at preventing the hit man from being captured after the assault.
Claims emerged in mid-2009 that retired army officers who were employed by OYAK may have played a significant role in tampering with evidence regarding the attack. Some believe that footage from security cameras at the building may have been destroyed by the company’s staff.
Mehmet Eymür, a former intelligence official, claimed earlier that OYAK Security’s Orhan Çoban was in close contact with Kaşif Kozinoğlu and Yavuz Ataç, who are suspected of links with gangs and other illegal groups. Kozinoğlu allegedly had close relations with Alaattin Çakıcı, arguably the most famous mafia boss in Turkey. Ataç, on the other hand, was known to have had frequent meetings with retired Capt. Muzaffer Tekin, who is currently in jail as a suspected member of Ergenekon.
The security company is also expected to respond to another question: why the company refused to hand over the security camera footage to the İstanbul Police Department until five days after the shooting. In response to a request from the police, OYAK said its security cameras were out of order on the day of the attack.
Another question plaguing minds is whether OYAK personnel cooperated with Arslan to carry out the attack. In the meantime, the Vakit daily has claimed that OYAK Ankara representative Serkan Akyıldız was removed from his position in January of this year. OYAK officials, however, have refused to comment on the reason for his removal.
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