Lt. Col. Mustafa Dönmez, who surrendered to military authorities on Jan. 12 following a search of his home earlier in the same month which revealed hand grenades, rifles, Kalashnikovs and various other arms, appeared before a military court yesterday on charges of “concealing military equipment.” A large cache of ammunition and weapons were found buried underground in Ankara's Zir Valley during excavations carried out based on a map found in Dönmez's house. The weapons found there were registered as belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), according to a report from Turkey's sole weapons manufacturer, the state-owned Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE).
In his testimony to the General Staff Presidency Military Court, Dönmez denied that the weapons and ammunition found in the valley belonged to the TSK and demanded that fingerprints of the 13 police officers who conducted the excavations in Zir Valley be taken by the court.
“The police planned this operation. I demand that the court take fingerprint samples of those 13 officers. I also believe MİT might have been a part of this.”
Stating that he was the victim of a conspiracy, Dönmez claimed that he'd never “touched” a weapon in his life. “I am a person of intellectual pursuits. I even see those who fell trees as murderers. How can I ever have anything do with weapons and ammunition? I do not understand that,” he told the court. “Let alone plotting against the Prime Ministry, I can't even think of hurting trees or animals. There is a very obvious operation here and the tainting of information.”
In addition to Dönmez, two other military officers on active duty and a retired officer testified at the trial. Lt. Col. Alp Kaya, Lt. Col. Nedim Kılıç and retired Col. İlhami Güler testified as witnesses. All three witnesses said they had no prior knowledge of the ammunition unearthed during the police raids.
The trial was adjourned until Aug. 14, 2009
The military prosecutor is demanding up to 12 years in prison for Dönmez. In the indictment, the prosecutor states that a map found in Dönmez's home showing where the caches of weapons were hidden had been drawn by none other than Dönmez himself. Additionally, the indictment states that hand grenades found in Dönmez's home had been handed over to the TSK by the MKE. The military prosecutor also demanded that Dönmez be discharged from the TSK.
Investigators had previously established that other arms found inside the home of Dönmez were registered in the TSK's inventory. The police attempted to take Dönmez into custody in January, but he escaped and surrendered to military authorities on Jan. 12 rather than turning himself in to civilian investigators. His surrender sparked controversy over whether the military might decide to protect him, but the military handed him over to Ergenekon prosecutors seven hours after his initial surrender. A search of Dönmez's summer home revealed 22 hand grenades, five rifles, one Kalashnikov rifle and a large supply of bullets. Dönmez's house in Sincan, Ankara, contained another arms depot, including three pistols, one machine gun and one Kalashnikov rifle.
Officers to testify in Ergenekon case
Meanwhile, eight military officers, all colonels currently on active duty, were expected to testify to Ergenekon prosecutors yesterday. However, none of the colonels had talked to the prosecutors by the time Today's Zaman went to print.
The officers were expected to testify, sources close to prosecutors in the Ergenekon case confirm, regarding a police raid on June 4 at the office of Ergenekon suspect and lawyer Serdar Öztürk. During the operation that day, a noncommissioned officer and four civilian public servants employed at military agencies were arrested, in addition to Öztürk himself. The names of the eight colonels are mentioned in some of the documents seized at Öztürk's office.
Col. Dursun Çiçek serving at the General Staff Command; Col. Muharrem Nuri Alacalı of the Gölcük Navy Command; Col. Şafak Yürekli and Col. İbrahim Koray Özyurt of the Aksaz Navy Command; Col. Mert Yanık, who serves at the Navy War Academy Command; Col. Levent Görgec of the Navy Training Command; and Col. Tayfun Duman from the Gölcük War Fleet Command have been called to testify to Ergenekon prosecutors.
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