Former minister, three others detained in gang probe

The latest Ergenekon operation started early in the morning at 12 addresses in several Turkish cities, including İstanbul, Ankara and Antalya. Sources said the operation was launched against individuals who were suspected of attempting to influence the course of the Ergenekon probe. The order for the operation came from civilian prosecutors overseeing the Ergenekon investigation.

Ankara police raided Oktay’s house in the Keçiören district in the morning and searched for Ergenekon-related documents. Oktay’s lawyer was present at the house during the search. Following a nearly two-hour search, police detained the former minister. Lawyer Bekar was also taken into custody after a search at her office and house.

Independent deputy Kamer Genç paid a visit to Oktay during the police search. He said the purpose of his visit was to show his support for the former minister. The deputy accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of working to change the agenda in the country. “Erdoğan and President Abdullah Gül should go. They are exerting their utmost influence for a civil war. They should go immediately,” he noted.

Asked about the search, Genç said the former minister was likely to be arrested on charges of aiding and abetting Ergenekon. Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Haluk Koç also visited Oktay at his house. Koç also blamed the prime minister and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for the Ergenekon operation, saying: “Those who are hiding behind a mask of fear will get their response at the next elections.”

Koç also expressed anger over the detention of the former minister, saying he was 76 years old and underwent a cardiac operation four years ago.

Police later took Oktay to his other house in a different Ankara district for another search. The three-hour search ended after police seized the computer and papers at the home. Oktay’s sympathizers attacked police as they accompanied the former minister to the police vehicle. The windows of the vehicle were smashed.

İP Deputy Chairman Cengiz was also detained in the Belek district of southern Antalya yesterday morning after a police search at his summerhouse. Police sources said Cengiz was to be sent to İstanbul for interrogation by Ergenekon prosecutors after a medical check-up. Cengiz is a lawyer for İP leader Doğu Perinçek, who was arrested for membership in Ergenekon last year.

Police also detained retired Col. Balçık as part of yesterday’s operation. Balçık is known to have close ties to retired Gen. Veli Küçük. The general was arrested and put in jail in 2008 on charges of leading a terrorist organization, namely Ergenekon.

The retired colonel is more famous for a document he prepared in November 1993 that confirmed the existence of JİTEM, a clandestine illegal unit in the gendarmerie thought to be responsible for hundreds of murders and various other atrocities that took place in the Kurdish Southeast under the guise of anti-terrorism efforts.

A separate search was ongoing at the lodging complex of members of the Supreme Board of Appeals in Ankara. No immediate details were available, however, as to the reason for and the outcome of the search.

Oktay accused of cronyism in judiciary

There have long been claims that Oktay had his close circle of friends appointed to senior positions in the judiciary during his term in office.

The claims are mainly based on the promotion of Kadir Özbek as the head of the Justice Commission in Parliament when Oktay served as justice minister. Özbek is currently the deputy chairman of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

Another basis for the claims is the recruitment process of nearly 2,000 judges and prosecutors during Oktay’s term in office in 1994. More than half of applicants were eliminated in an oral examination by a panel of judges, presided over by Oktay, though they had passed a written examination.