It turns out that activities taking place at İstanbul University were followed in great detail. And what's more, we also learned that Professor Sevil Atasoy, who headed the İstanbul University Forensic Medicine Institute for 18 years, had made categorized lists of people working there and had sent this report to the 1st Army Corps Command. The information contained in this report was then relayed to the Turkish military's Land Forces Command, where it was added to the main report as the “additional July 11, 2005, report.”
Professor Atasoy left the İstanbul University Forensic Medicine Institute on May 26, 2005, having had the job since 1987. But now hold on tight: as it turns out, before she headed the institute, her father, Şemsi Gök, ran it and between the years of 1972-1987 Atasoy was her father's assistant. In other words, we are talking about someone who served for a total of 33 years as both an assistant and at the helm of an institution which has the power to send someone to the gallows or to reprieve them. This is someone who has thus enjoyed a close relationship with the top command of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for all those years.
But let's continue. The following day an interview with Atasoy was printed in the Taraf newspaper. Here is what Atasoy said: “I did not write that report. While the information that is provided in the report does come from me, the person who sent the report was Ümit Sayın…” Professor Atasoy does, however, confirm that the Institute of Forensic Medicine did provide then-1st Army Corps Commander of the Military and now-suspect in the Ergenekon case Gen. Hurşit Tolon with information about the institute. Here was the reason Atasoy provided: “I offered advice. At the time, I was not the only one who was worried about the restructuring of the Forensic Medicine Institute; many people employed there were beginning to voice their concerns. We were beginning to debate amongst ourselves who we should tell and consult about these worries. The conclusion of our debates on this topic was that we should go to Gen. Tolon with our concerns.”
So academics make secretive lists of their own colleagues. They don't share their concerns with their rectors; they don't let word of these concerns leak to the press. In order to get advice, they decide as a large group to take their concerns to the commander of the army. But in all this, was there no question of democracy, of career ethics, of honor, of human relations?
But that's not all. Let's summarize some of the findings expressed by Alper Görmüş in Taraf. Professor Atasoy's writing appeared in the Sept. 11, 2005, edition of the Hürriyet, around the time that these secretive reports made their way to Gen. Tolon. She received some very special attention and in fact Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief Ertuğrul Özkök was particularly courteous when it came to this new writer, publishing a full-page interview with Atasoy. Özkök explained his surprising choice for this interview by saying, “I did this interview completely as a result of my own curiosity.” However, MSN records now included in the Ergenekon files show that two months prior to this interview published in Hürriyet, a current suspect in the Ergenekon case -- and former Forensic Medicine Institute employee -- Ümit Sayın wrote about this topic thusly: “Atasoy called... She spoke with Ertuğrul Özkök today... Hold tight...
Özkök apparently knows that Atasoy went to the chateau [It is widely thought that ‘chateau' in Ergenekon jargon means the 1st Army Command Center]. He offered Atasoy a special page to herself. In the end, Hürriyet allows us the freedom of putting all the news we wish on its pages... Well, it appears that E. Özkök has picked up the scent of something... This offer was made to us only one month after we went to the chateau.”
So, what happened later? Hürriyet and the press leadership put on the squeeze. With Ergenekon and all the media questions, how could this big a sword fit into any bag? And so, Atasoy quietly resigned from her position at the Forensic Medicine Institute on May 17, 2009.
Each one of these above related events are enough on their own to shake the nation and each one only serves to amplify the importance of honest journalism and responsibility. Our efforts are no longer sufficient; we are not able to give the necessary time and attention to revealing the true importance and dimensions of these events. Even if this ongoing Ergenekon case serves no other purpose, it is still the case of the century in terms of its power to show everyone clearly the true depths of the rot and wrongness going on in Turkey. Certain ships are really sinking, but the orchestras play on…
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