‘Gen. Berk defied law, hoped to impact court with F-16 fighter jets’

The general has been indicted for membership in a terrorist organization. The first hearing of the trial was held in Erzurum on Tuesday. Thirteen suspects were present during the hearing; however, Gen. Berk failed to appear despite receiving a court summons last week. His lawyer said the general would be in Ankara to attend Land Forces Command meetings for three days, which excused him from attending the hearing. According to retired prosecutor Reşat Petek, Berk's refusal to attend the hearing added to suspicions that the general is guilty and has nothing to say to defend himself before the court.

“Suspects who have confidence in themselves regarding the crimes they are accused of comply with court orders and defend themselves before justice. Gen. Berk should have done the same. However, his refusal to attend the hearing has raised suspicions. Some saw it as an attempt to escape justice and defy the law, while others said the general has nothing to say to defend himself and thus he refused to attend the hearing,” Petek remarked.

The appearance of two F-16 fighters raised eyebrows at Tuesday’s hearing after they flew over the court building as the prosecution was cross-checking the suspects’ identities. The suspects are Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner, Eskişehir Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Recep Gençoğlu, Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Intelligence Department Director Nedim Ersan, Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Intelligence Department Deputy Director Esin Ergut, Yaylabaşı Post Commander NCO Murat Yıldız, noncommissioned officers Orhan Esirger and Şenol Bozkurt, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Erzincan Department Director Şinasi Demir, MİT officials Sadri Barkın İnce and Kıvılcım Üstel, Erzincan Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Col. Ali Tapan, 3rd Army Intelligence Department Planning and Training officer Ahmet Saraçlar and Erzincan hunting goods store owner Yaşar Baş.

The trial concerns the Erzincan branch of Ergenekon, a shadowy criminal network that has alleged links within the state and is suspected of plotting to topple the government.

The suspects are accused of putting into operation an apparent military plot -- titled the Action Plan to Fight Reactionaryism -- to undermine the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and certain religious communities in the eastern province of Erzincan. The plot, drafted by a colonel on active duty, was intended to undermine the power of the AK Party, eventually leading to a military coup.

The F-16 fighters evoked memories of a military convoy’s unexpected journey from Erzincan to Erzurum shortly after the detention of a serving colonel in late January. Only hours after Eskişehir Gendarmerie Commander Col. Gençoğlu was taken into custody as part of a terror case, a 25-vehicle military convoy traveled from Erzincan to Erzurum’s Üzümlü district.

The General Staff claimed that the convoy’s journey was part of a “series of training activities” for the winter exercises of the 3rd Army Command in Erzincan. Similarly, the fighters raised questions on Tuesday about whether Gen. Berk planned the fighter flyover as a “show of power.”

“It is scandalous to make F-16 fighters fly over the court building during the trial. It is clearly the beginning of a psychological and asymmetric operation against the prosecution. The flight of the fighters over the court building is no different to the military convoy travelling from Erzincan to Erzurum after the detention of Col. Gençoğlu,” stated Abdurrahim Çelik, the head of Gaziantep branch of the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER).

The Air Forces Command announced on its website yesterday that the F-16 fighters flew over the court building as part of a routine training flight. The statement also denied claims that the flight was aimed at pressuring the court over the terror trial.

According to Serdar Bülent Yılmaz, a lawyer by profession and head of the Diyarbakır branch of the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der), the General Staff is encouraging Gen. Berk not to attend the trial.

“If the chief of General Staff does not refrain from posing for photos with the prime suspect in a terror case [referring to Gen. Berk] and stands by him in newspaper interviews, then the general will naturally refuse to attend the hearing. Gen. Berk derives his power from the General Staff and defies the law,” Yılmaz stated.

Observers also criticized the “unexpected attendees” at Tuesday’s hearing, including Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Yılmaz Ateş, CHP deputy from Sivas Malik Ejder Özdemir, CHP deputy from Erzincan Erol Tınaztepe, Sincan 1st High Criminal Court judge Osman Kaçmaz and former Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV) head Ömer Faruk Eminağaoğlu.

Details from Wednesday’s hearing

The Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court continued to hear the case on Wednesday, with all suspects -- except Gen. Berk, once again -- being brought to the court building under high security.

Members of the press were prevented from taking photos of the suspects by the gendarmerie and police officers. The court announced that it had decided to reject Erzincan Chief Prosecutor Cihaner’s demand that the judge in the case be removed. The demand was filed by the prosecutor’s lawyer on Tuesday on the grounds that the chief judge lacked impartiality.

Cihaner’s lawyer, Turgut Kazan, has for long argued that the trial should be held at the Supreme Court of Appeals given his client’s profession. The Erzurum court, however, believes the case should be heard there.