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Aydınlık raid reveals Ergenekon wiretapped several people

Sound recordings of the phone conversations of a number of prominent figures from various circles -- including the prime minister, Cabinet members, journalists and mayors -- have been found on CDs seized in a recent police raid at the offices of the Aydınlık newsweekly, as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine organization charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

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Police raided the offices of Ulusal Kanal TV station and the Aydınlık newsweekly -- a publication put out by the Workers' Party (İP), whose leader, Doğu Perinçek, is an Ergenekon suspect -- over alleged links to the criminal network on Monday. The police reportedly acted on the Aydınlık's latest cover story, which included a 2004 phone conversation between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Mehmet Ali Talat, on the suspicion that Ergenekon had wiretapped Erdoğan. Police found recordings of phone conversations Erdoğan had between 1999 and 2004 on a CD seized during the raid.

There were also recordings of İstanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş; Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek; ministers Ali Babacan, Hilmi Güler, Egemen Bağış and Cemil Çiçek; businessman Remzi Gür; former UN Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto; aide to Prime Minister Erdoğan Cüneyd Zapsu; and journalists Murat Yetkin and Hakan Aygün.

Additionally, documents seized in a police raid in March at the home of Mustafa Özbek, the jailed chairman of workers' union Türk Metal, revealed that the Ergenekon terrorist organization established two main centers in the KKTC and Ankara to wiretap conversations, including those of politicians and businessmen. Özbek was arrested in late January as part of the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, which stands accused of multiple assassinations and attacks designed to trigger an eventual military takeover, working through its links to the state, including the military, the judiciary and the media.

23 October 2009, Friday

TODAY'S ZAMAN  İSTANBUL

   

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