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Judge finds Poyrazköy suspect's accounts ‘unconvincing'
“You will understand why we are not terrorists when I tell you one of our memories. On Jan. 30, 1996, we purchased oil for the boat with our own money. We paid for it with the credit card of Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe, who is also a suspect. Here is the payment slip. Everyone on the boat gave all the money they had with them, and we bought bread and cheese from the grocery store. We landed on [one of] the islets at 1:40 a.m.
We are being tried here today,” complained Col. Ali Türkşen as he defended himself against accusations of membership in a terrorist organization.
The colonel was referring to the journey of a group of Turkish naval officers who landed on the Kardak islet after a Greek priest hoisted a Greek flag on the island. Turkey and Greece have for a long time been at odds over the possession of the islets. Turkish naval officers landed on one of the islets and the flag crisis soon turned into a war of words between the Turkish and Greek prime ministers. The crisis was eased by US intervention and the removal of the Greek flag from the area.
The İstanbul court is hearing a criminal case that concerns munitions found by police in Poyrazköy in April of last year on land owned by the İstek Foundation, which belongs to former İstanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan. The discovery was made as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine gang whose suspected members are currently standing trial on charges of having plotted to overthrow the government.
Prosecutors overseeing the Poyrazköy probe believe that the munitions would be used in a military plot for a coup d’état. The Poyrazköy indictment demands life sentences for five naval officers on charges of “attempting to destroy Parliament and the government.”
“There are hundreds of such stories at the armed forces,” Türkşen added. The colonel’s remarks, however, angered Judge Mehmet Karababa, who responded by saying: “Are boats of the Turkish military waiting without oil? Does the military leave its soldiers without food? How on earth can its boats lack oil while the Turkish Marine Corps [SAT] are so professional?”
Türkşen also said the munitions discovered in Poyrazköy would only kill and frighten a few chickens in a poultry yard. Also on Friday, lawyers for the Poyrazköy defendants asked the court to forward the case file to a military court, saying a civilian court cannot try members of the military. The court has yet to make a decision on the request. Judge Oktay Kuban read aloud the separate responses of the Gendarmerie General Command, General Staff, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Security General Directorate. The court had asked them about their knowledge of a terrorist organization nested within the military.
In its response, the Gendarmerie General Command said it has not received any intelligence about the existence, functions or acts of such an organization. Similarly, the General Staff and MİT said it has no knowledge of a terrorist organization in the military. The Security General Directorate, however, said it believes there is such an organized body, adding that it is up to the court to designate it a “terrorist one.”
The Poyrazköy indictment points to the illegal formation within the Naval Forces Command as the “naval branch of Ergenekon.” According to the indictment, the heads of the branch are retired Maj. Levent Bektaş and retired Col. Levent Göktaş. The document points to evidence for each of the accusations included in the file.
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