Ergenekon might be behind Garih murder, claims friend

Doğan Kasadolu, a businessman who recently petitioned a prosecutor’s office to reopen the murder case of Üzeyir Garih, who was found murdered in a Muslim cemetery in İstanbul’s Eyüp district in August 2001, has told Today’s Zaman that the murder was committed by an organized criminal network.

He said he believed Ergenekon, a clandestine network whose suspected members are currently on trial on charges of attempting to overthrow the democratically elected Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, is behind the murder.

Kasadolu also reiterated his earlier claim that the family knew the real perpetrator, but was intimidated into not speaking out. He said just like in the 2006 Council of State shooting, which was initially presented as an attack committed for religious reasons, the Garih murder was plotted by its masterminds to create agitation and fear in society. The Council of State attack, which resulted in the death of one senior judge, was last year merged with the ongoing trial into Ergenekon.

“Both murders were committed to create fear in society and put the blame on religious conservatives.”

Yener Yermez, the murder suspect in the Garih assassination, was given life without parole in 2003 by the Eyüp 2nd High Criminal Court. The verdict was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeals in October of the same year, but the organization that plotted the murder was never exposed. Kasadoğlu, a friend of the Garih family and a former executive of Alarko Holding, continued to pursue the truth behind the murder.

He went to the press in 2008, sharing with the public his allegation that individuals dressed up as police officers handcuffed and kidnapped Garih’s grandson on the day of the murder. In 2008, he told the Yeni Şafak daily in an interview, “On the day of the murder, individuals in police uniforms kidnapped Garih’s grandson and threatened the family not to dig too far into the assassination.”

In the same year he also petitioned Prosecutor Nihat Taşkın, who was at the time one of the three prosecutors overseeing the case into Ergenekon.

Kasadolu wrote in his petition that Doron Herzikowitz, Garih’s son-in-law, had said that his son was handcuffed and kidnapped on the day of the murder. According to Herzikowitz’s account, as quoted in Kasadolu’s statement, the individuals who kidnapped Garih’s grandson, Tal Herzikowitz, warned the family not to delve too deeply into the investigation, threatening to frame Tal, who was 14 at the time, for the murder. Moreover, Kasadolu told the prosecutor he was ready to testify as a witness in the Ergenekon trial. He also asserted that the Garih family had for years been too afraid to publicly speak out about the incident.

Kasadolu told Today’s Zaman he still suspects Ergenekon as being responsible for the assassination. “My personal opinion is that this was the work of an organized gang. Ergenekon might be behind this; it hasn’t died out entirely,” he said. Hundreds of suspects are on trial on charges of membership in Ergenekon, including the group’s alleged leaders, but many suspect that the network is still active.

“The trial in the Garih murder did not satisfy anyone. The family did not get co-plaintiff status in the case. Only his son İzzet Garih had the status of a co-plaintiff, but he didn’t go to Eyüp to testify. He testified in Beyoğlu and that was when he was subpoenaed by the prosecutor. This is a scandal. I told all I know about this to Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. I also presented documents,” he said.

The businessman also claimed that four or five military officers were questioned in the Balmumcu Barracks in İstanbul in relation to the murder, but said their testimony never went into the official records. “The court clerk has the text. This person worked at the Eyüp Courthouse at the time of the murder. He now serves at the Yalova Courthouse. They found me, and we talked about it. This person told me, ‘Listen, when I was a court clerk there, we took the testimony of four or five noncommissioned officers. This testimony, however, is not in the case file for this murder’,” he said.

He added that this person had testified to a prosecutor, noting that Prosecutor Cihan Kansız was now investigating the murder. Kasadolu also said he expected the Garih family to make a statement about the murder.