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Ergenekon probe exposes surveillance of Armenian community

Hrant Dink
Hrant Dink
The investigation into an alleged illegal network known as Ergenekon has revealed that a civilian who was formerly employed by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had collected detailed information on Turkey's ethnic Armenian population.

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Ergenekon investigators found that Fatma Cengiz, who is currently a suspect in the case against Ergenekon, collected various dossiers regarding the Armenian community in Turkey. The file included a list of subscribers to the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos.

In addition, there were lists of names and members of Armenian foundations and churches, which were classified as “active” or not, as well as the balance sheets of Agos.

Cengiz had been in the limelight before after claims that she gave information to İbrahim Şahin, a former deputy head of the National Police Department’s Special Operations Unit, to establish “S-1 and S-2 teams” to assassinate intellectual leaders in society.

According to sources, Cengiz also tracked the names of academics, writers and journalists who participated a two-day academic conference held on Sept. 24-25, 2005, at Istanbul Bilgi University titled “Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy.” The conference openly disputed the official Turkish account of the Armenian massacres.

In the files allegedly belonging to Cengiz, who is also known as Asena Öztürk, there are several famous names, with notes next to their names: Halil Berktay, “professor, he had publicly said that Armenians were massacred”; Kazım Akıncı, “secret Armenian, he applied to a court to change his religion after Dink [Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink who was assassinated by an ultranationalist teenager in 2007]”; Ece Temelkuran, “she said that if something happens to her the prime minister is responsible for it, she is a graduate of the Ankara faculty of law”; Herkül Milas, “he is not an Armenian”; Sevan Nişanyan, “writer at Taraf, maybe from Agos, needed to be investigated”; Markar Esayan, “Taraf writer, information regarding him will come together with Etyen Mahçupyan”; Aytaç İlhan, “he might be a student in Iğdır, he should be investigated, he had applied to change his religion”; Baskın Oran, Adalet Ağaoğlu and Elif Şafak.

Investigators have also found a PowerPoint presentation which was allegedly prepared by Cengiz, who signed it as Asena Öztürk. In that presentation, pictures of Şahin and Korkut Eken, a former officer of the TSK Special Operations, are placed side by side. There is also a photograph of former Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Büyükanıt, in addition to the expression “Everything is for the country,” written in blood on a background of weapons and the Turkish flag.

20 November 2009, Friday

BÜŞRA ERDAL  İSTANBUL
Comments on this article

Christoph , Nov 20 2009 16:33, Friday
The viciousness of the 'Deep State' against religios and ethnic minority groups in Turkey has exceeded all the stories. ...

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Ankara defies US pressure on normalization process with Armenia
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Report: Israel restricts tourism advertisements involving Turkish Cyprus

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