Three members of military arrested for role in Cage plan

Lt. Col. Halil Özsaraç and colonels Levent Gülmen and Mücahit Erakyol were arrested and sent to jail on the grounds that they contributed to the preparation of a plot which detailed a plan to assassinate prominent non-Muslim figures in Turkey and place the blame for the killings on the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as part of an action plan called the Cage Operation Action Plan. The killings were intended to increase internal and external pressure on the party, leading to diminishing public support for the AK Party.

The plot was found on a CD seized in the office of retired Maj. Levent Bektaş during a police raid in April. The raid came after the discovery of munitions on land owned by the İstek Foundation in Poyrazköy the same month. Bektaş is currently under arrest.

In the meantime, documents retrieved from the same CD have shown that an anti-democratic group within the Naval Forces Command set up a prostitution ring to urge members of the military to work in line with the ambitions of the group.

A document titled “dilekim.xls” on the CD indicated that a woman identified as Dilek B. had relations with a number of members of the Naval Forces Command. On the document, a note by the name of a colonel, identified with his initials, D.B., reads that the colonel is “obsessed with women.” “However, he is under Dilek’s control,” reads the note. Another note put down next to the name of another colonel, D.Ö., reads that the colonel is “very close” to the naval junta. Similarly, other colonels Ş.F., K.Ö., M.N., T.D. and D.S. were also in close contact with the junta.

Another document found on the CD is titled “kızlar.xls” (Girls). According to the document, Maj. C.C.E. had “relations” with two women, identified as Deniz B. and Zuhal A. The document also suggests that these two women, along with eight others, were tasked with collecting intelligence from the Naval Forces Command for Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of plotting to topple the government.

The same CD also includes confidential information about the private lives, wives, children or girlfriends of a number of high-ranking members of the military. The document suggests that some of those members of the military were blackmailed with that information and urged to work in line with the ambitions of the Naval Forces Command junta.