The court's decision was long expected, since the Supreme Court of Appeals ruled last December to merge the case of the Council of State attack with that of Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network operating inside state institutions, including the armed forces. The trial of the Ergenekon suspects is being heard at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court. The Council of State trial was being heard at the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court.
Legal experts have generally welcomed the decision. Speaking with Today's Zaman, Mustafa Şentop, a professor of constitutional law, said: "This was an expected decision, as the Supreme Court of Appeals had already established the link with the Council of State shooting. If the court had not conformed to the higher court's ruling, there would have been very serious consequences." He added that it was important that this was avoided. He noted that the Ankara court had not reviewed or processed much of the new evidence concerning the shooting that is available at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which is hearing the Ergenekon trial.
Ümit Kardaş, a retired military judge, also said the outcome was what was expected. "This is a procedural ruling. This attack was linked to the organization. It can be said, however, that this has been very positive for the course of the Ergenekon trial."
"In that sense, this has been very positive for both of the cases. In the Council of State case, new evidence concerning the suspects not heard by the Ankara court will be available for judicial review. It is also very positive in terms of the future of the Ergenekon case, as it will clarify the structure of the Ergenekon formation. It has long been said that there are links between the two cases, but this move will work to solidify the connections," Şentop explained.
There are other murders in Turkey's recent history that are believed to have been orchestrated by Ergenekon. Amongst them is the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January 2007 by an ultranationalist teenager. Yesterday's decision is not likely to have a direct effect on other cases, Şentop said, noting that it was not an absolute necessity to merge related cases except in certain specific circumstances. "The courts decide to do this if they see the need," he added. He also noted that not only local courts, but also a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals, as was the case in the Council of State trial, can merge various other trials believed to be linked to Ergenekon.
Yesterday's hearing
In the course of an official investigation that was started in the summer of 2007, a prosecutor established that Ergenekon may have played a role in the 2006 shooting.
The Supreme Court of Appeals' statement from its December ruling to merge the cases noted that the Ergenekon indictment makes reference to the armed attack on the Council of State. It urged prosecutors to establish the character of the organization formed by the suspects in the Council of State shooting and evaluate evidence from the shooting together with evidence obtained in the Ergenekon investigation. The Ankara court's ruling is a milestone in the Ergenekon trial.
In yesterday's hearing the convicted perpetrator of the Council of State shooting, Alparslan Arslan, created a scene, rising from his seat and yelling, "I will cut anyone into pieces who touches the headscarf. Go to Israel!"
Judge Yücel Özbilgin, who headed a Council of State Chamber that had ruled against a teacher's wish to wear the headscarf to school, was killed in the 2006 shooting.
Arslan was removed from the courtroom by the bailiffs.
In addition to Arslan, other suspects in the case, Erhan Timuroğlu, Süleyman Esen, Osman Yıldırım, İsmail Sağır and Tekin İrşi, their lawyers and some members of the Council of State attended yesterday's trial.
After the scene in the courtroom, presiding judge Hasan Şatır read out the statement of the panel of judges announcing that the court agreed with the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals that "there was an obligation to merge the Council of State shooting with the Ergenekon trial."
Veli Küçük’s letter
Veli Küçük, a retired general charged with being a leader of the Ergenekon gang, petitioned the court not to merge the two cases. The petition, submitted to the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court by Küçük's lawyer and daughter, Zeynep Küçük, stated that testimony from Osman Yıldırım, an Ergenekon suspect based on whose testimony the Supreme Court of Appeals established the link between the two cases, was a lie.
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