ergenekon case - turkish cultural...

[ ERGENEKON CASE]Ergenekon is the name given to a clandestine ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with ties to members of the countrys military and security forces The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey Its agenda has variously been described as Anti-American anti-EU and isolationist

2010

ERGENEKON CASE

The Clandestine Paramilitary Organization

Biggest threat to the democracy in Turkey and to the US-Turkish Relations

Ergenekon is the name given to a clandestine ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with ties to members of the countrys military and security forces The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey Its agenda has variously been described as Anti-Americanist anti-EU and isolationist

Over a hundred people including several generals party officials and a former secretary general of the National Security Council have been detained or questioned since July 2008 Hearings began on 20 October 2008 and are expected to continue for over a year Commentators in the Turkish press have called Ergenekon the case of the century According to the indictment of the trial against the organization the groups claim to legitimacy is that it allegedly protects national interests which the defendants believe are incompatible with the rule of the democratically elected government and are harmed by Turkeys alleged concessions to the United States and European Countries in short West In Turkey the extensions of the statemdashthe establishmentmdashthat are considered responsible for this are referred to as the deep state

Members have been indicted on charges of plotting to foment unrest among other things by assassinating intellectuals politicians judges military staff and religious leaders with the ultimate goal of toppling the incumbent government in a coup that was planned to take place in 2009 This follows allegations published in a news magazine Nokta that several abortive coups with the same intent were planned a few years ago The proximate motive behind these false flag activities is said to be to discredit the incumbent ruling party and derail Turkeys accession process to the European Union Several months after revealing the coup the magazine was closed because of the military pressure In addition through the judiciary system the clandestine organization is trying to expand the pressure on the media with regard to the court case and trying to have journalists report against the case Now around 4000 journalists are facing trials or investigations due to their reports on the Ergenekon case

Turkey has already been through four (4)successful military coups since democratic elections were first held in 1950 At the first coup deacutetat in 1960 the junta executed the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country Adnan Menderes and two of his ministers There were more coups in 1971 in 1980 and in 1997 with additional numerous attempted un-successful coups all through these years

Ergenekons modus operandi has been compared to Operation Gladios Turkish branch the Counter-Guerrilla It has been said that the people who constitute the deep state are members of or make use of this covert organization which was established at the beginning of the Cold War to contain communism

Executive Summary

The Ergenekon investigation is a collaborative action taken by all criminal justice systemrsquos agencies in Turkey It initiated with an anonymous phone call to Trabzon Gendarmeriersquos tip line about that evidence (explosives and weapons) in 2007 Trabzon Gendarmerie submitted the information to Istanbul Gendarmerie After that Istanbul Gendarmerie and Istanbul Police Department jointly conducted operation to apartment belonged to Yıldırım Yigit The grenades and weapons found in that apartment belonged to Oktay Yıldırım who is a retired noncommissioned army officer and he is currently under arrest in relation to the case According to Yigit he was constantly threatened to not testify that the explosives belonged to Oktay Yıldırım

The Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul assigned a team leaded by prosecutor Zekeriya Oz to investigate this organization The team investigated the case for 16-month and prepared a 2455-page indictment with 30 separate charges against the suspects including being a member of a terrorist organization illegal possession of weapons and provoking the public for armed insurgency against the Turkish government The Ergenekon case is now called the Turkish Trial of the Century Even some said Pandoras Box has been opened Many believe that this trial will help people understand the entire history of a Turkish Gladio Majority of Turkish public is supporting the case because they believe that this case will enhance the Turkeys democracy

The organization was attempting to destabilize Turkey and produce support for a coup against the government Therefore there are many charges against the suspects of this organization They are

Membership in an armed terrorist group Attempting to destroy the Turkish Government Provoking people to rebel against the Government Murder of Italian priest Father Andrea Santoro in February 2006 The attack on the State Council in 2006 The murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink a prominent Turkish Armenian

journalist in 2007 Trying to assassinate prominent Turkish writer Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk A shooting at the Council of State A grenade attack on Cumhuriyet a left-wing newspaper Several attacks on priests in Malatya a city of Turkey Planning to assassinate Recep T Erdogan the prime minister of Turkey

There are possible links between the Ergenekon and below listed terrorist networks

Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) The extreme-left Revolutionary Peoples Liberation PartyFront (DHKPC) The Islamist organization Hizbullah The ultranationalist Turkish Revenge Brigades (TİT) The Turkish Workers and Peasants Liberation Army (TİKKO) The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party(MLKP) and The Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) an extreme group wishing to reinstate the Islamic

Caliphate

Here is the list of ammunition were recored during the investigation so far (as of December 2008) 39 hand grenades 2 detonated hand grenades 11 kg of C-3 explosive 1160 gr explosive blocks 1 gas bomb 10 fuses 5 signal rockets 3 smoke bombs 21 TNT blocks 1 re bomb 84 capsules 24 re cartridges 50 bomb fuses 35 bomb fuses of various sizes 1 training grenade 2 explosive pipes 18 gr Emolite explosive 13-centimeter long fuse for explosive capsules 3 tubes of hydraulic acid 3 long-range rifle 2 rifles 2 air rifles 21 shotguns 3 blank shooting revolvers 34 cartridges 1074 shotshells 73 hunting shotshells 1 silencer 2 detonated mortar shells 9 detonated anti-aircraft shells A bayonet knives a large number of bearings time-controlled fuses and other material used in making bombs and wireless communication devices

The Ergenekon Investigation had a direct impact on anti-American sentiment in Turkey since neonationalist groups including key figures of Ergenekon terrorist network was leading promoters of anti-Americanism According to Transatlantic Trends Turkish warmth toward the US increased in this year 2008 for the first time since 2006

Another important aspect of the Ergenekon case is its Russian connection Most of the arrested individuals has strong tie to Russia Former Gendarmerie General Command intelligence department head Levent Ersoumlz who was also the alleged sales director of Rosoboronexport a Russian arms exporter fled the country since a search warrant has been issued for him in the Ergenekon investigation An Interpol red bulletin was issued for him He is currently in Russia free of movement Alexander Dugin a loyal supporter of Putin is a great supporter of the Ergenekon Terrorist network He asked necessary

action to response investigation against anti-American and pro-Russian network from Putin and Medvedev He is considering this operation as a challenge of Turkey against Russia

Called the ldquoCage Operation Action Planrdquo the desired result from the intimidation of Turkeyrsquos non-Muslims and the assassination of prominent ones was that an increase in internal and external pressure on the ruling party would ensue leading to diminishing public support for the party

The Cage action plan was signed by Lt Col Ercan Kireccediltepe and was planned to be put into operation by a team of 41 members of the Naval Forces Command It envisaged the assassination of prominent non-Muslim figures and the spreading of propaganda to increase internal and external pressure on the AK Party leading to its demise in politics according to the plan

The action plan would be implemented to lend support to suspects arrested so far as part of the Ergenekon investigation render ineffective so-called psychological warfare waged by the AK Party and its supporters (against the military) change the course of the agenda in Turkey boost the morale of the junta within the Naval Forces Command and win the appreciation and support of the public The blame for each of the assassinations by the junta would be put on the AK Party

ldquoThe Action Plan To Combat (Islamic) Reactionaryismrdquo which was seized in the Office of Serdar Oumlztuumlrk one of the defendants under arrest as part of the Ergenekon probe comprises 300 pages The action plan incorporating strategic assessments contains suicides bombing actions and attacks which would lead to repercussions in the public

A 4 page part of the document which has been allegedly prepared by Senior Colonel Dursun Ccediliccedilek working in Support Section Directorate No 3 of the Operations Department in the Office of the Chief of General Staff was published in the daily Taraf on June 12 2009

As recent update in the last wave of the Ergenekon terrorist organization operation currently 36 individualsincluding three retired generals and 10 active officers of various ranks is in detention in the police facility for interrogation due to their possible link to the terrorist network In the house of fugitive Lt Colonel Mustafa Donmez in the city of Sakarya countless amounts of weapons including 73 hand grenades numerous guns and rifles along with Kalashnikov and Kanas firearms have been found up to this point during raids as part of the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon In addition to this arsenal underground arsenals were recovered with 30 types of explosive and LAWs in Ankararsquos Golbasi district based on a map found in the home of İbrahim Şahin a former police chief of SWAT department He is accused of giving order to assassinate an Armenian community member in the city of Sivas Law Enforcement authorities are expecting other arsenals spread all over the Turkey

The length of the indictment was received great amount of critics but many intellectuals declared their support to investigation and requested deepen the investigation in order to get rest of the people tied up with the Ergenekon They see the case as an important step to democratization of Turkey

Until now many people were taken into police custody (86 suspects by November 2008) in relation to the Ergenekon case At the beginning 37 members of the organization were arrested including well-

known military commanders political leaders newspaper columnists and academicians some of them are

o Sener Eruygur Retired Full General and Former Head of Turkish Gendarmerieo Hursit Tolon Retired Full Generalo Veli Kuumlcuumlk a retired generalo Dogu Perincek the chair of the Workersrsquo Party (IP)o Ilhan Selcuk columnist at the Cumhuriyet newspapero Kemal Alemdaroglu the former rector of Istanbul University (IU) o Fikret Karadag a retired colonelo Kemal Kerincsiz ultranationalist lawyero Sevgi Erenerol press spokeswoman for the ldquoTurkish Orthodox Patriarchaterdquo o Tuncay Oumlzkan journalist former owner of Kanal Tuumlrk TV station and leader of the

anti-Islamist How many are we movemento Adil Serdar Saccedilan former police chief of Istanbul Organized Crime Divisiono Sinan Ayguumln President of the Ankara Chamber of Commerceo Sami Hoştan Susurluk scandal convicto Ferit Ilsever General Manager of Ulusal TV Channelo Emin Guumlrses Associate Professor at the Sakarya University

Turkish Gladio more violent than any otherThe history of the secret army in Turkey is more violent than that of any other stay-behind in Western Europe Daniele Ganser a Swiss researcher states in his seminal work on calendestine organizations in NATO countries

Ganser describes the shadowy network in Turkey as Turkish Frankestein In Turkey the secret NATO stay-behind army was called ldquoCounter-Guerrillardquo and operated under the direction of the Special Warfare Department According to Turkish General Talat Turhan the secret army was involved in terror torture and coup drsquoeacutetats

Codenamed Gladio (the sword) the Italian secret army was exposed in 1990 by Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti to the Italian Senate whereupon the press spoke of The best kept and most damaging political-military secret since World War II (Observer 18 November 1990) and observed that The story seems straight from the pages of a political thriller (The Times November 19 1990) Ever since so-called stay-behind armies of NATO have also been discovered in France Spain Portugal Germany Belgium the Netherlands Luxemburg Denmark Norway Sweden Finland Switzerland Austria Greece and Turkey They were internationally coordinated by the Pentagon and NATO and had their last known meeting in the NATO-linked Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC) in Brussels in October 1990

To read Gansers full article on Turkey please find Appendix1

Ergenekon Network Exacerbates Anti-Americanism in Turkey

No matter how the Ergenekon trial ends it will have a direct impact on anti-American sentiment in Turkey It is no secret that the neonationalist groups which include the leading figures of the Ergenekon network have promoted anti-Americanism in Turkey

The reading of the indictment against 86 suspects in the first trial against Ergenekon a criminal network accused of plotting to overthrow the government was completed at the trials 11th hearing When the process of reading the indictment ended suspects started giving testimony in their defense The first of 86 defendants to testify was Oktay Yildirim a retired noncommissioned army officer with alleged links to the 200 discovery of 27 7 hand grenades inside a house used as an arms depot in Istanbulrsquos Umraniye district Despite the fact that Yildirimrsquos fingerprints were found on the box in which the 27 hand grenades stored he claimed that neither he nor his lawyer had seen the hand grenades in the Umraniye house (Todayrsquos Zaman November 12) From the very beginning of the Ergenekon investigation and throughout the trial process the country has been divided into two camps On the one hand liberal moderate Islamists argue that Ergenekon is a criminal network that carried out most of the unsolved political murders in recent Turkish history On the other hand Kemalists and neonationalists tend to downplay the importance of the Ergenekon network No matter how the Ergenekon trial ends it will have a direct impact on anti-American sentiment in Turkey It is no secret that the neonationalist groups which include the leading figures of the Ergenekon network have promoted anti-Americanism in Turkey Ergenekon supporters frequently organize street protests to accuse the United States of plotting against the network (Yeni Safak April 19) One of Turkeyrsquos major Kemalist associations Ataturkcu Dusunce Dernegi(Ataturkist Thought Association) organized a rally last July in protest against the Ergenekon trial Protesters accused the United States of being the main force behind the Ergenekon inquiry (July 19) The Workers Partyrsquos youth movementTurkiye Genclik Brilgi (Turkish Youth Union) is active in public and on the internet describing the Ergenekon investigation as ldquoan American plot against Turkish nationalistsrdquo On the other hand Ergenekon supporters recently organized a protest at Silivri Prison where the Ergenekon trial is being held to accuse the United States of intrigue against the Kemalists (Radikal October 20)

It was reported that a public prosecutor had questioned Erol Olmez one of the imprisoned Ergenekon suspects about connections with the terror attack on the American consulate in Istanbul on July 9 (Hurriyet November 12) Allegedly Bulent Cinar one of the terrorists killed during the shootout in front of the US Consulate had spoken on the telephone with Olmez (Taraf November 13) There is not enough evidence to suggest that the neonationalists in general and the Ergenekon criminal network in particular may escalate their anti-American sentiment into that level of violence against American institutions but it is clear that the neonationalists and Ergenekon are the two major sources of anti-Americanism in Turkey Given that the arrested Ergenekon suspects were frequently commentators on TV shows and at public events and were also the main organizers of major rallies to protest the government and American policies in Turkey and in the Middle East one can argue that the Ergenekon arrests should reduce the intensity of public anti-Americanism in 2008 In addition to other factors public antipathy toward the United States may be related to the intense anti-American campaign of leading Ergenekon figures such as Dogu Perincek Sener Eruygur Hurist Tolon and Emin Gurses Turkish opinion about the United States and the American people had become increasingly negative until 2008

Nearly half of Turks (46) say they have a very unfavorable view of Americans up from just 32 a year ago 17 have a somewhat unfavorable view of Americans Similarly opinions of the US fell from 30 very or somewhat favorable last year to 23 in the current survey ( Pew Global Attitudes Report Turkey June 23 2005 wwwpewglobalorgreportspdf247turkeypdf)

According to German Marshall Funds of the United Statesrsquo Transatlantic Trends findings on a 100-point ldquothermometer scalerdquo Turkish warmth toward the United State was 20 degrees in 2006 In 2007 when large scale rallies were organized by neonationalist groups and the anti-Americanism debate was intensified Turkish warmth toward the United States dropped to 11 degrees In June of 2008 before the Russian invasion of Georgia Turkish warmth toward the United States increased by three degrees to 14 degrees While Turkish warmth toward the United States has increased slightly this year for first time since 2006 Turkish warmth toward Russia has decreased by three points to 18 degrees (wwwtransatlantictrendsorg see the polls from 2006 2007 and 2008) The Ergenekon inquiry could be one of the factors that have reduced the intensity of anti-Americanism on TV stations and in newspapers The news channel SKYTV for instance has dropped two programs that were airing anti-American themes in almost every show The mainstream Istanbul daily Aksam moreover fired one of its columnists who is known for her relationship with the Ergenekon criminal network and anti-American sentiments Given the fact that the Ergenekon networkrsquos supporters are trying hard to portray the Ergenekon trial as an American plot against the neonationalists no matter how the Ergenekon trial ends it will affect peoplersquos opinion toward the United States in one way or another If the major defendants are found not guilty and released they will appear on television blaming not only the ruling government but also the United States for their arrests If the court convicts the Ergenekon suspects their supporters will try to depict the sentences as politically motivated under pressure from the ruling government and the United StatesEurasia Daily Monitor Volume 5 Issue 218

Ergenekon as an Opponent against the United States of AmericaTheir anti-American approach is not limited to only influencing and directing the governmentrsquos policies or organizing legal and illegal social demonstrations but also extended to their activities of planning and carrying out terrorist events against American targets

The terrorist organization called Ergenekon is a defender of anti-American opinions and considers the United States of America and the European Union as the biggest threat to its benefits and best interests Ergenekon is a terrorist organization that has recently been indicted and that tries to prove itself as the ldquodeep staterdquo and connections of which has been shown with other well known terrorist organizations of rightist and leftist origin in Turkey (Hizbullah Tuumlrk İntikam Tugayı -TIT Kuumlrdistan İşccedili Partisi -PKK etc) and that has established mafia like criminal organizations attached to itself and that has been placing its supporters in positions within the strategic departments of the State of Turkish Republic as part of its aim to ldquooverthrow the governmentrdquo and that has been trying to abuse people from those strategic departments and other prominent politicians businessmen artists academicians and alike through threats and blackmail and that has been creating archives about those people to that end and that tries to channel and affect and change governmental policies and the agenda and the public opinion by using media non-governmental organizations and by creating its own media and non-governmental organizations The terrorist organization argues that the indictment against Ergenekon by the Public Prosecutorrsquos Office in İstanbul has been initiated by the US and that the biggest threats against the continuation presence and the unitary structure of the Turkish Government are the US and the EU The organization thus attempts to affect and influence the policies of the Turkish Government accordingly based on the reasons noted above

The investigation on Ergenekon started in 2007 based on denunciation and as a result of a long investigation by the Public Prosecutorrsquos Office in İstanbul it has been understood that the terrorist organization that calls itself Ergenekon is responsible for some of the most striking and noticeable terrorist incidents (such as the attacks against Council of State and Cumhuriyet Newspaper) that has influenced the political life in Turkey and therefore a trial has started in July 2008 against the organization after many suspects have been apprehended and lots of arms ammunition explosives and documents have been seized As can be understood from the text of the indictment the documents seized during the investigation and the communications of the suspects clearly demonstrate all the anti American and attempts and actions of the organization and actions towards influencing and changing the policies of the Turkish governmentFor instance it is understood from the statements below that the organization considers it a success of itself that the Turkish Parliament did not approve the proposal of the Government (known as March 1st Missive) to let American Soldiers to use the American Military Bases in Turkey during the Iraqi War

if the March 1st missive was not approved by the Parliament and Mehmetccedilik [Turkish Soldiers] did not become shields for the Coni [American Soldiers] and did not die and if the US is buried in the BOB Map in Iraq the hero behind all this is yet again the Labor PartyCDrsquos seized from the Labor Party (Indictment p 1487)

Although in the statement above the actions are introduced as a success of the Labor Party as can be understood from the Indictment Labor Party andor the people that governs the Party have an important position within the Ergenekon terrorist organization As a result of the searches made at the Labor Party facilities as part of the investigation lots of organizational documents on

Ergenekon (the structure and operations) and classified information (secret communications security weaknesses etc) about the strategic departments of the state (military intelligence judiciary) and records on people that work in those departments containing highly private and personal information as to their political philosophical and religious views their ethnic origins immoral and illegal inclinations sexual lives health conditions or union relations [Indictment p 40]) have been seizedConsidering the fact that Ergenekon suspects have been apprehended in facilities that belong to the Labor Party that some of the arrestees have close relationship to the Labor Party and in fact that the leader of the Labor Party Doğu Perinccedilek is one of the most important indictees of the Ergenekon Trial it can be seen that the Labor Party has a special position within the structure of the Ergenekon organization or that the Labor Party acts on behalf of Ergenekon as a branch In the statements below it is clearly stated that the Labor Party is the ldquoBlacksmith of Ergenekonrdquo and has anti-American and anti-European Union views the Labor Party is leader party a party of devotees and the unselfish Our Republic has been destroyed with the 50 years small America period The only response to this heavy destruction and threat is to unite the county based on a revolutionary program The Labor Party is the blacksmith of Ergenekon and the inheritor of the 150 years old Turkish Revolution The Labor Party has told the peoples of this country that only snake would emerge out of the fable of EU the Labor Party is the only party that stands with determination against the destructional actions of the imperialists of the US and the EU and their local servants towards the Turkish Armed Forces

CDrsquos seized from the Labor Party (Indictment p 1487)It is also understood from an official message sent by the National Intelligence Service to the Headquarters of the Turkish Armed Forces that the National Intelligence Service has determined the place and importance of the Labor Party within the Ergenekon terrorist organization In that message that is labeled ldquoTop Secret Copyrdquo in which ldquoLabor Party headquarters houses (cells)rdquo are explained it is explicitly mentioned in the document that ldquothe Labor Party is secretly organized within the Turkish Armyrdquo and the structure of this organization and the fact that the military personnel that have connection with the Labor Party possess explosives in their apartments are described and the names and contact information of those military personnel are given in detail (Indictment p 44) The fact that the message is original and not forged has been approved by the Prosecutorrsquos Office The interesting thing is that this message has also been seized during the searches in the premises of the Labor PartyAs mentioned in the Indictment another statement concerning the ldquoMarch 1st Missiverdquo is obtained from the recorded phone conversations between the suspects captured within the framework of the investigation In those conversations suspect Erkut ERSOY who is mentioned in the Indictment to be the leader of the intelligence unit of the terrorist organization explicitly argues that they have contributed to the non-passage of the missive from the ParliamentIn the phone conversation between suspect Erkut ERSOY and another person named Muumlfit recorded on 22ndMarch 2007 it is understood that Erkut said that ldquoI spare my time mostly to field actions brother we will spend our time in the fieldrdquo Muumlfit replied ldquoExactly you have started then as to myself I have started almost around before the start of the Gulf War after that if the missive has not been approved even with one vote short we also have a contribution in that we know that it has happened before they have been deployed beforehand after that we did all we could there is no need to repeat the same thing over and overrdquo and after mentioning the work and actions they have taken Erkut also said that ldquoI mean Yes so far we have relayed 34 thousand messagesrdquo

(Indictment p 2156)

Ergenekon Terror Organization arranged anti-American protests and ralliesparades by using its non-governmental organizations (Combatant Veteranrsquos Association Association of Martyrrsquos Families Ataturkist Thought Association National Power Platform STK Union Platform Crescent Moon-Star Association) (Indictment p 1844) It is understood that such activities against the US EU and IMF are planned by Patriot Forces Power Association Nationalist Forces Association (VKGB) (see Suspect Aki KUTLUrsquos interrogativeprosecutorial statement Indictment p 2426) And ldquothat the goals and activities of VKGB operate in the same line with ERGENEKONrsquos secret purposes and strategies (Indictment p 115)In addition considering the provocative burning activity of Turkish Flag started in Mersin City which then caused several protests that spread throughout the country was organized by the Ergenekon suspect Ali KUTLU on behalf of VKGB and this same VKGB organized a rallyparade in Diyarbakir City on behalf of the Ergenekon terrorist organization with the order and directives of Labor Party leader Doğu PERİNCcedilEK (see Hidden Witness 17rsquos statement Indictment p 115) All these events and networks show that Labor Party leader VKGB and Ergenekon Terror Organization are interrelated and interconnectedMore importantly their anti-American approach is not limited to only influencing and directing the governmentrsquos policies or organizing legal and illegal social demonstrations but also extended to their activities of planning and carrying out terrorist events against American targets For instance very detailed action plans against the NATO facilities were found in the CD that was confiscated in the office and residence of Ergenekon Suspect Hayati OumlZCAN in the frame of Ergenekon InvestigationInquiry And NATO is well known of its high population of American officersofficials According to the Indictment the following information was also found in the CD ID information color copies of IDs scanned digital versions of signatures of all officers and staff that work in the NATO base located in Şirinyer Izmir as well as pictures of buildings and facilities of that place and yet pictures of family members of some high ranking commanders

(Indictment p 44) And yet in the same CD

A statement that indicates that ldquothe apartmentrdquo in front of the open park of the NATO facilities ldquowill be rent and the six-month payment will be made all in cashrdquo was found in a word document some detailed instructions about what kind of printer and type of cartridge or toner will be used while writing security cards were also found in some of the documents some detailed plans maps pictures about a possible sabotage of explosion even after the explosion how the fire hydrants would be made out-of-service and many marks made on the pictures and the directions used by the NATO staff while going out of and coming to the facilities were also indicated and the weak security points were marked and it is also understood from the digital versions of all these documents that the project and plans were done in February-March of 2007

(Indictment p 44)And yet as also showed in the media the attacks on the US Consulate in Sariyer City and three police officers killings by armed terrorists were not simply done by Al-Qaeda as it was claimed but the same terrorist organization (Ergenekon) involvement The alleged leader of the attacking group Erkan KARGIN was not found to have a concrete connection with Al-Qaeda although it was said that he had a certain fondness to it However it was claimed that he was frequently visited by several public officials after he returned from Afghanistan in 2007(K ouml ro ğluZaman 2008) and more importantly when Erkan KARGIN was killed in the attack his cell phone was investigated and found that he contacted with Erkut ERSOY (who was detained and accused of

being the leader of organizationrsquos intelligence services) and got the directives of this attack from him (ZenginSabah 2008)

Why Ergenekon terrorist organization would want to attack to American Consulate is clarified by an Ergenekon suspectrsquos wire tapping conversations Emin GURSES allegedly takes part in the university structure of Ergenekon states on the phone on January 23rd 2008 ldquoIf they get me in they know that our people will do anything to explode the ambassadors of the US and Israelrdquo (see Indictment p1309) In conclusion the organizational documents confiscated during Ergenekon InvestigationInquiry the tapes of warm conversations among suspects and the statements of suspects are full of evidence that show the anti-American face of Ergenekon terror organization but not limited to the examples mentioned above The Labor Party and its leader Dogu PERINCEKrsquos press statements and mass media arguments on this issue so far are also supporting this claim The Ergenekon membersrsquo being so anti-American is due to their perception of seeing the US as a direct threat to themselves It is estimated that depending on the degree of perception of that threat the degree and violence level will be increased or decreased In addition they are very much interested in political and governmental agendas and in order to influence these agendas they may attempt to do some provocative activities In this regard American targets could be chosen due to their potential to attract all the attention from all around the World On the other hand there are two reasons of why Ergenekon members could believe that America had initiated all the operations made against the Ergenekon (1) Either Ergenekon members cannot see the World and Turkey correctlyappropriately and donrsquot have the ability to do that or (2) in order to show and exaggerate their power more than it is they may claim that it can only be the United States of America but not Turkey that can do such (big) operations against such a powerful organization By doing that they are trying to apply one of the techniques of psychological warfare believing that they know those techniques so well (Indeed) Both of these possibilities show that this organization is not as powerful as the organization tries to show

Dugin and ErgenekonEurasianism as an alternative to the Western alliance is the basic discourse of the Ergenekon network However the Turkish public knows little about Alexandr Dugin a Russian intellectual and the leading figure of Eurasianism who also has some Ergenekon suspects

Who is Dugin

He is a frequent commentator on foreign affairs in the Russian mediaHe is the leading spokesman for neo-Eurasianism an adaptation of the original Eurasianism which fits well with the nationalist and anti-American positions that have become increasingly mainstream in recent yearsHe is the founder of the Anti-Orange Youth Front a street movement and the author of a weekly program on Spas the Orthodox satellite channelHe is the moving spirit behind the New University a regular lecture series and the author of various books and articles based on these lectures and similar sources In these capacities he is the leading Russian spokesman for Traditionalism and international movement originating in the esoteric milieux of the late-nineteenth century ParisHe is the leader of the International Eurasia Movement This not only represents Eurasianism in former Soviet countries such as the Ukraine and Kazakhstan but has some significance in Western Europe where it is an inspiring example for the extreme RightDugin is almost entirely self-taught he received no formal higher education having been expelled from the Institute of Aviation in 1983 at the age of 22Dugin entered politics directly for the first time in 1993 as one of three founders of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) along with the novelist Edvard Limonov and the musician Egor Letov Today anti-Orange Youth Front is an echo of the NBP which is best understood not as a political party but as a youth group He came to the attention of a wider audience in 1997 with the publication of ldquoGeopolitical Foundations the geopolitical Future of RussiardquoDugin became loyal to President Putin and still retains good relations with himDugin is now the leader of Eurasia Movement which he founded in 2001 and it is different than NBP ie it is not a youth movement it included such figures as Dr Aleksandr Panarin Mufti Talgat Taj-al-Din Archbishop Andrian (the patriarch of the Old Believers) and Mikhail Leontiev What is his underlying ideology

It is Traditionalism which is the key to his neo-Eurasianism His traditionalism comes in two strands one spiritual or esoteric and one political Both derive from Renersquo Guenon (1886-1951) a quasi-Masonic orderhellip he takes Guenon as ldquoundiscovered MarxrdquoAnother ideologue for Dugin is the Italian Political Traditionalist Baron Julius Evola (1897-1974) who became the chief inspiration for activists who were at one point responsible for an average of 80 terrorist attacks a month It should be noted however that despite the foregoing violent aspect Evolian political Traditionalism remained spiritual and esoteric In recent years spiritual Traditionalism has spread from Catholic Europe and America to the Muslim world especially Iran Turkey and MalaysiaDuginrsquos Traditionalism is entirely non-Russian origin Although most followers of Guenon have become Sufis Dugin chose Old Belief (a traditional esoteric and religious path the foundations of which lie in the Traditionalism) over Sufism because he was a Russian in Russia Duginrsquos political action may be inspired by Evola and Traditionalism but that action takes place within Russia and is facilitated by good relations with the ChurchTraditionalism is an anti-modernist philosophy and so has more appeal in countries with problematic experiences of modernity than in countries with unproblematic experiences of modernity or in countries with little experience with modernity Soviet-Unionrsquos modernity was definitely problematic that is why Duginrsquos ideas are enticing to many people in Russia today (This part is important vis a vis Turkish problems with modernization)Dugin became acquainted with Traditinalism in a circle of intellectuals which meets today at the New UniversityDuginrsquos identification of America as the chief representative of modernity and so as Russiarsquos chief enemy is a continuation of Cold War perceptions Likewise his Eurasian bloc is an essentially continuation of the Old Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact with the addition of Iran and Turkey His positive view of the Soviet Union however does not stem from his conviction that Soviet Union was good but from that of ldquoWestern Democracy is worserdquo Important notes

1) His staunchly defense of anti-Americanism seems to resonate with a significant number of Russians especially the youthhellip I realized this when I was watching a debate on You-tube (in Russian) between Dugin and Viktor Erofeev a well-known Russian author During this debate people were able to vote for their favorite discussant through text-messages which could be seen on the TV screen As a result he received about 50000 votes whereas Erofeev received about 30000 In addition the audience that was present at the debate applauded stronger when Dugin bashed America and American policies and when he used a ldquopatrioticrdquo tone Given the Russian imperial legacy which is said to have resurrected recently in Russia it can be said that Duginrsquos ideas will most likely appeal to many people in the years to come

2) In the Evraziaorg (Duginrsquos website) I have read an interview given by Mehmet Perincek in which he was asked questions about the Ergenekon operation Given his fatherrsquos involvement Mehmet not surprisingly downplayed the operation and ridiculed it He said that the real patriots are being tried and eventually they will be exonerated He also said that there is need for a revolution in Turkey based on the ideas of AtaturkThe fact that this interview was conducted by Duginrsquos followers can be important in regards to the alleged ties between Dogu Perincek and Aleksandr Dugin

3) Anti-Americanism and Anti-EUism of Ergenekon and its link to Eurasianism should be thought of together

Ergenekon vs MinoritiesMembers of ETO were wise enough that they cannot rule Turkey until there is a chaos in the country Therefore they have sowed seeds of chaos and hatred in the society through bombings assassinations and other means of violence

Ergenekon Terrorist Organization (ETO) members are understood to come from within powerful areas in the state and military apparatus or to be tied to such power No one knows how many or who exactly belongs to the group which is nearly always characterized as shadowy This shadowy group is associated with the premise that Turkey has a deep state -a state within a state made up of a network of individuals linked to Turkish organized crime the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) and potentially others ETO members have plotted foment unrest by assassinations of intellectuals politicians military staff judges and religious leaders Members of ETO had an ultimate aim to remove the pro-Western government through a coup which they have planned in 2009 Namely members of ETO were wise enough that they cannot rule Turkey until there is a chaos in the country Therefore they have sowed seeds of chaos and hatred in the society through bombings assassinations and other means of violence

Let us analyze some techniques ETO members have used to provoke society in order to grasp the broader picture of ETO Throughout the history Armenians and Turks have lived together in peace and harmony There were intermarriages between the societies Armenians are known as a lsquoLoyal Nationrsquo (Millet-i Sadika) in Ottoman history As everyone would know alleged lsquoArmenian Genocidersquo was a tool to be used by lsquoErgenekonrsquo to fuel the hatred to Armenian community living in Turkey Therefore ETO members needed a target to assassinate so it will not only ruin the image of Turkey in international arena but also will cause societal unrest in Turkey Hrant Dink was one of the distinguished Armenian intellectual who was also the chief editor of the lsquoAgosrsquo weekly newspaper Dink has statements about the lsquoArmenian Genocidersquo that lsquothere are two societies both are ill they are Turks and Armenians There is no any doctor who can cure this illness Turks can cure the Armenians and Armenians can cure the Turks There is only way to solve the problem is through dialoguersquo in one of his last interviews Furthermore on 7 October 2005 Hrant Dink was given a six-month suspended prison sentence by the Sisli Court of First Instance No 2 in Istanbul for denigrating Turkishness in an article he wrote on Armenian identity According to the prosecutor in the case Hrant Dink had written his article with the intention of denigrating Turkish national identity which was not the case Therefore ETO members cannot find better target than Hrant Dink who has been suspended by Turkish Court and who is promoting dialogue on lsquoGenocidersquo case Last thing ETO members would want is a dialogue which will result in peace on both the Turkish and Armenian sides Since Hrant Dink has lsquodenigrated Turkishnessrsquo he would be an easy target to ultranationalists On January 19 2007 Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul by Oguumln Samast a 17-year old Turkish ultranationalist Two days after the assassination murderer had been captured by police forces At present Hrant Dink case has been unified with the Ergenekon case as it was mentioned in Ergenekon 1st indictment It was expected as Dinkrsquos death would loosen the glue of a mosaic which has been tight for centuries and fueled the hatred in both Armenian and Turkish societies as it was planned by ETO However Turkish society and officials has protested this assassination and invited Armenian officials to the funeral of Hrant Dink As expected Armenian Diaspora and society used this murder as a proof to the alleged genocide Moreover Turkey was protested in Armenia as well as in some European countries

ETO members are well known for being anti-USA anti-NATO and anti-EU since they have not backed by them Therefore they needed to hinder Turkey from having good relations with the West and ultimately joining the EU Hence ETO needed a target which will ruin relations with both EU and USA Italian Roman Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was an indispensable target for them so Catholic priest was murdered while kneeling in the prayer in Santa Maria Church Trabzon Turkey on February 5 2006 Two days after the murder murderer was found and jailed Oğuzhan Akdin was an ultra-nationalist had only 16 years of age a high school student who was accused of the killing He was sentenced to 18 years and ten months in jail for premeditated murder by a court in Ankara Killer has told to Turkish police that he has killed priest because of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy by Danish newspaper Now let us have a close look to the consequences of the murder The catholic world is one of the strongest and populous denominations of Christian faith which has more than a billion Catholics in the world according to Vatican in 2007 Since EU and USA have huge Catholic populations shooting should have damaged the relations with Turkey reciprocally

Since Turkey mainly has population of Muslims which consists of more than 90 missioners were targeted So it can result in conflict of Muslims and Christians which will remind us the theory of lsquoclash of civilizationsrsquo by Samuel Huntington ETO members have done their homework well as it is easy to observe the targeted ones One of the Christian Publishing Company Zirve Yayinevi in Malatya was attacked by five youngsters and three workers were murdered one was a German citizen Zirve publishing company was publishing Bibles and other Christian literature Again the murderers were ultranationalist youngsters whose have caused massacre of Christians on April 18 2007 After the Malatya massacre there were many other attacks and murder attempts targeting Christians once again A Catholic priest was stabbed in the stomach during a service at a Catholic church in Izmir In Samsun Diyarbakir and Antalya other murder attempts were prevented by successful operations by the police

ETO members have planned and acted so successfully that they have almost ended up in a coup It is obvious from both first and second indictments of Ergenekon that this is not an organization of think tank or civic movement However it is an organization which planned and orchestrated the violence killings bombings and shootings Surprisingly there is a strong propaganda against the Ergenekon case in the media which shows they are strong in this area as well The case is presented as if it were just a fabrication by the government in order to silence its political opponents Unfortunately this is absolutely not the case

To cause a chaos in society minorities are the Achilles heel With all murders as mentioned above ETO members were trying to send a message to the members of both Christian communities in Turkey and around the world that they are not welcome in Turkey On the other hand Ergenekon wants to give the impression to Turkey and the outside world that as soon as an Islamic-oriented government came to power massacres against Christians started which will help ETO members a reason to topple down the government while creating obstacles to Turkeys EU path Tolerating or ignoring such a terrorist organization would mean suicidal of a society

In late years there was undeniable improvement in relations between Muslim and Christian faiths around the globe These incidents prove that ETO members are opposing to the closeness of Muslim and Christian communities and probably have nightmares about the notion of an Islamo-

Christian civilization a term uttered by Richard W Bulliet ETO members have sowed the seeds of hatred so there would be a chaos environment As they tried to divide the society so it would be easy to rule They have admired the Jacobinism and militant democracy which shows they are lsquodemocraticrsquo people even though it is militant ETO has used any means that will help them to achieve their aim

Operation Cage (Kafes) Action PlanCalled the ldquoCage Operation Action Planrdquo the desired result from the intimidation of Turkeyrsquos non-Muslims and the assassination of prominent ones was that an increase in internal and external pressure on the Justice and Development Party (AKP) would ensue leading to diminishing public support for the party



a Operation Draft

(1) General Information

(a) For the purpose of ensuring that the Special Operations Force Command extend support to those under arrest as part of Ergenekon Case make the counter psychological warfare by AKP and its supporters ineffective boost the morale of the organization and win public support terrorizing propaganda will be staged targeting at the non-Moslems and such activities will be shown via black propaganda as if they were executed by AKP and other evil hubs supporting AKP

(b) The psychological operation activities to be executed are indicated by Annex B Psychological Operation Campaign Control Form

(2) The operation will be executed in four stages

(a) Preparatory Stage

(1) The names and addresses of the non-Muslim population will be determined(2) The subscription lists of the newspapers magazines etc owned by the non-

Muslims will be obtained(3) The students parents and employees of the educational facilities owned by the

non-Muslims will be identified (4) The community lists of the foundations and places of worship owned by the

non-Muslims will be obtained

(5) The religious festivals major days of the non-Muslims as well as the locations where religious service and ceremonies are held by them

(6) The cemeteries of the non-Muslims which would fit action will be identified

(b) Terrorizing Stage

(1) The lists of subscribers to AGOS Newspaper which have been obtained will be published on Internet particularly the share sites and reactionary web sites

(2) Calls of threat will be made and letters of threat sent to the subscribers to AGOS Newspaper

(3) Slogans with threatening contents will be written on the intensive routes in Adalar region

(4) The lists of subscribers will be duplicated and left at such locations where they are easily visible to the citizens living on Adalar

(c) Stage of building public opinion

(1) It will be ensured that the lists of subscribers are published by the press thus receiving coverage

(2) Columns will be commissioned about the issue(3) The issue will have coverage by the debate programs with the nonsensical

attitude of AKP government being raised (4) The media will again give coverage of the Incidents of September 6 ndash 7 and

news articles on the Wealth Tax (5) Anti-AKP web sites will be increased so that they stage intensive activities(6) Web sites operating against the minorities will be supported in terms of their

contents(7) By developing new websites under titles wwwtehditaltindayizcom (ldquowe are

under threatrdquo) wwwagosasahipcikalimcomrdquo (ldquolet us protect Agosrdquo) etc in addition the present ones broadcasting will be made in line with pre-determined themes and such sites will be effectively promoted

(8) By establishing Web sites for which impression is created that they are funded by AKP and pro-government media promotion of such sites shall be made as required and publications with religious contents will be mixed with messages showing the media of the minorities particularly AGOS Newspaper as targets

(9) By showing AKP and reactionary groups as the culprit of the actions executed ldquoblack propagandardquo will be carried out in terms of origin

(d) Stage of Action

(1) Bombs will be exploded at various quarters in Adalar region (2) Assassination will be plotted against persons having a high profile as a fierce

defender of minority rights (3) Sound bombs will be placed at the pre-determined spots such as the vicinity of

AGOS Newspaper

(4) By placing suspicious packages at many spots and informing the police of them the security forces will be kept pre-occupied

(5) Action involving bombs will be staged at the piers where boat journeys to Adalar are organized

(6) Sensational actions will be executed at the cemeteries of the non-Moslems(7) One or several of the popular non-Muslim businessmen and artists will be

kidnapped(8) Vehicles houses and workplaces will be frequently will be set on fire in those

regions having dense non-Muslim population(9) Similar actions will also be made in the provinces such as Istanbul and İzmir

where the non-Muslims live densely(10) Actions of sabotage kidnapping and assassination executed will be

claimed on behalf of the reactionary organizations determined following coordination to be made with the special plan cell leaders

To read the full version of the original Cage Plan please find Appendix2

The Action Plan to Combat ReactionaryismldquoThe Action Plan To Combat Reactionaryismrdquo which was seized in the Office of Serdar Oumlztuumlrk one of the defendants under arrest as part of the Ergenekon probe comprises 300 pages The action plan incorporating strategic assessments contains suicides bombing actions and attacks which would lead to repercussions in the publicA 4 page part of the document which has been allegedly prepared by Senior Colonel Dursun Ccediliccedilek working in Support Section Directorate No 3 of the Operations Department in the Office of the Chief of General Staff was published in the daily Taraf on June 12 2009

It is now uncovered that the Office of the Chief of Staff has prepared a new action plan titled ldquocombat reactionaryismrdquo The new plan belonging to the Office of the Chief of Staff that was seized in the office of Lawyer Serdar Oumlztuumlrk a former officer now practicing as a lawyer who was arrested as part of Ergenekon investigation were taken down under minutes and are now expected to incorporated into the third indictment on Ergenekon At the same time Oumlztuumlrk was acting as the attorney for Colonel Levent Goumlktaş a member of the Special Forces who was also arrested under Ergenekon

The conclusive part of the plan covers ldquoBlack Propaganda Activitiesrdquo Here is that part

To read the full version of the original The Action Plan To Combat (Islamic) Reactionaryismrdquo please find Appendix3

Allegations

The investigation exposed alleged links between an armed attack on the Turkish Council of State in 2006 that left a judge dead[114] a bombing of a secularist newspaper[114] threats and attacks against people accused of being unpatriotic and the 1996 Susurluk incident as well as links to the plans of some groups in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to overthrow the present government According to the investigation Ergenekon had a role in the murder of Hrant Dink a prominent journalist of Armenian descent[13][115][116] Italian priest Father Andrea Santoro in February 2006 and the brutal murders of three Christians one a German national killed in the province of Malatya in April 2007[117] Furthermore files about JİTEM related the assassination of former JİTEM commander Cem Ersever killed in November 1993 to Ergenekon[117] A former JİTEM member Abduumllkadir Aygan said that JİTEM is the military wing of Ergenekon[118]Documents seized in the investigation if authentic would show that the group planned a bomb attack in İstanbuls Taksim Square triggering chaos that would be used as a pretext for military intervention It is also alleged that those detained were involved in provocation and agitation during the Gazi incidents of 1995 when tens of people died in clashes with the police in demonstrations after an attack at an Alevi coffeehouse in the neighborhood[119]Recently uncovered evidence suggests that the 1993 death of General Eşref Bitlis and that of journalist Uğur Mumcu may be related to Ergenekon[120] Both Bitlis and Mumcu were investigating how Jalal Talabani one of the Kurdish leaders of northern Iraq and as of 2008 president of Iraq came into possession of 100000 firearms belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces[121]In March a journal allegedly written by former Naval Forces Commander retired Adm Oumlzden Oumlrnek referred to as the coup diaries was included in the second indictment prepared by the prosecution[122] Oumlrnek former Land Forces Commander Gen Aytaccedil Yalman and Retired Former Air Forces Commander Gen İbrahim Fırtına testified to the prosecutors in January 2010[123][124] These generals are mentioned in the diaries as having devised military coup plans titled ldquoAyışığırdquo (Moonlight) and ldquoSarıkızrdquo (Blonde Girl) between the years 2001 and 2004 when they still served in the militaryAccording to the Turkish daily Todays Zaman Ergenekon was involved in assassinations of Iranian reformist leader Dariush Forouhar and his wife Parvaneh Eskandari Forouhar[125]

Militant links

According to Zaman there are links between Ergenekon and numerous militant organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) the extreme-left Revolutionary Peoples Liberation PartyFront (DHKPC) the Islamist organization Hizbullah the ultranationalist Turkish Revenge Brigades (TİT) the Turkish Workers and Peasants Liberation Army (TİKKO) theMarxist-Leninist Communist Party(MLKP) and the Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) an extreme group wishing to reinstate the Islamic Caliphate[48]Zaman quoted a senior intelligence officer Buumllent Orakoğlu as having said that the PKK Dev Sol Hezbollah and Hizb ut-Tahrir are artificial organizations set up by the network and thatAbdullah Oumlcalan himself is an Ergenekon member[126] Zaman also writes that the former PKK leader Şemdin Sakık said in his testimony that the Ergenekon network was in close contact with the group and even co-operated with it on several occasions According to Sakık he was brought to Turkey by a group of men led by Mahmut Yıldırım also known as Yeşil (Green)mdasha convicted mafia leader whose name had surfaced in the report on the Susurluk scandal[127] He is believed to have been killed shortly after the Susurluk scandal[128]Sakık said the Ergenekon gang planned to co-operate with a number of terrorist organizations including the PKK to achieve its objectives This cooperation was realized with Doğu Perinccedilek (the leader of the Workers Party) and several other figures Cemil Bayık (a senior PKK leader) was also among these

figures he remarked[129] In another Zaman article JITEMinformant Abdulkadir Aygan made a similar remark[130]Zamans claims have been disputed[131] The testimony of Sakık was not released to the press hence it is not official PKKs imprisoned leader Abdullah Oumlcalan declared before court that Sakık had killed 33 people on Ergenekons orders[132]Oumlcalan dismissed allegations made by intelligence officer Buumllent Orakoğlu concerning himself but he did say that a group inside the PKK which he called the Zaza Group had links with Ergenekon He said that this group was led by Sait Ccediluumlruumlkkaya and tried to seize control of the PKK adding Particularly in the Diyarbakır-Muş-Bingoumll triangle they have staged intensive and bloody attacks[133]Kurdish Democrat Ahmet Acar alleged that Oumlcalan instructed the PKK-friendly Democratic Society Party (DTP) to remain silent about Ergenekon[134]Lieutenant Mehmet Ali Ccedilelebi detained in the Ergenekon investigations allegedly had links with the extreme Islamist group Hizb-ut Tahrir[135] Ccedilelebi was allegedly the key which made possible the arrest of five Hizb-ut-Tahrir members in September 2008[133] Hizb-ut Tahrir refutes the allegations[136]Responding to allegations in Taraf DHKPC issued a press release ridiculing claims of its connection to Ergenekon[137]

InvestigationThe investigation was officially launched after an anonymous call in June 2007 to the Trabzon Gendarmerie turned up a chest of grenades belonging to members of the Special Forces Command (Turkish Oumlzel Harekacirct Dairesi OumlHD) An investigation of the network of acquaintances of the suspects turned up more information and snowballed into the present situation Members of the OumlHD were notably implicated in the covered-up Susurluk scandal from ten years earlier The bulk of the Ergenekon indictment was drawn from documents found in 2001 when a former National Intelligence Organization agent named Tuncay Guumlney got detained (his identity unknown to the police) for a minor offense Some say this was deliberate as he provided detailed information to the police about Ergenekon while in detention for an unrelated felony The Istanbul police force closed the investigation by 2002 citing a lack of incriminating evidence Another significant development was the abortive coups of 2004 When the intelligence agencies got wind of an assassination threat towards Chief of Staff Yaşar Buumlyuumlkanıt and yet another coup planned for 2009 (under Buumlyuumlkanıts successor İlker Başbuğ) the investigation was kick-started Around the same time the dissolution of the incumbent Justice and Development Party was proposed Trial hearings began on 20 October 2008

ERGENEKON CHRONOLOGY

3 November 1996 A traffic accident near the small town of Susurluk brought illegal organizations to light1997 The name Ergenekon as a clandestine organization was first pronounced 2001 First official document was found related with Ergenekon9 November 2005 Two junior officers were caught red-handed during an illegal bombing5 February 2006 Father Andrea Santoro was murdered in Trabzon5-11 May 2006 Cumhuriyet daily was bombed three times during May 200617 May 2006 Council of State had been attacked a senior judge was shot dead18 January 2007 Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of his newspaper Agos

25 March 2007 Nokta journal published ldquoCoup diariesrdquo18 April 2007 Three Christians were killed in an attack at a publishing house in Malatya12 June 2007 First Wave - 27 hand grenades were found during a police raid to a shanty house in Uumlmraniye26 June 2007 Second Wave - Weapons and explosives were found in Eskişehir21 January 2008 Third Wave - Veli Kuumlccediluumlk got arrested21 February 2008 Fourth Wave - Academics got arrested21 March 2008 Fifth Wave ndash Doğu Perinccedilek and İlhan Selccediluk were detained Perinccedilek got arrested26 March 2008 Coup diaries were verified13 June 2008 Taraf daily unraveled a secret meeting between Osman Paksuumlt and İlker Başbuğ5 July 2008 Sixth Wave - Retired generals got arrested7 July 2008 ldquoEldivenrdquo (Glove) coup plot was discovered9 July 2008 American Consulate was attacked9 July 2008 Oumlzkoumlk made an interview with the Milliyet daily he didnrsquot deny the allegations at the coup diaries14 July 2008 First indictment was presented to the court23 July 2008 Seventh wave was launched14 August 2008 Retired Colonel Arif Doğan was arrested3 September 2008 Kocaeli Garrison Commander visited the Ergenekon detainee generals on behalf of Turkish Armed Forces8 September 2008 Eighth wave was launched

23 September 2008 Ninth wave was launched20 October 2008 Ergenekon trial began17 Aralık 2008 Council of State attack case was merged with the Ergenekon investigation7 January 2009 Tenth Wave-General Kılınccedil Major General Şenel and former president of the Higher Education Board Prof Kemal Guumlruumlz were arrested08 January 2009 Arms caches were unearthed at various places14 January 2009 Ergenekon fugitive Brigadier General Levent Ersoumlz was captured in Ankara15 January 2009 Interrogation of Tuncer Kılınccedil evoked a new debate on ldquoEncuumlmen-i Danişrdquo (Consultation Council)22 January 2009 Eleventh wave was launched27 February 2009 Voice record of Karadayı was revealed through internet06 March 2009 Mustafa Balbay was arrested08 March 2009 Death wells were opened10 March 2009 Second indictment was submitted13 April 2009 Twelfth Wave-University rectors were arrested20 April 2009 Arms cache was found in the land belonging to İSTEK Foundation18 May 2009 Tuumlrkan Saylan died4 June 2009 Thirteenth Wave- Army officers are arrested as part of an investigation into the ammunition found in Poyrazkoumly10 June 2009 Hundredth hearing in the Ergenekon trial was held12 June 2009 Taraf daily published a military action plan targeting the ruling JDP and the Guumllen community25 June 2009 Turkish Parliament paved the way for civilian courts to try military personnel

30 June 2009 Dursun Ccediliccedilek and eight other colonels are investigated by the Ergenekon prosecutors16 July 2009 Trial of Colonel Cemal Temizoumlz with regard to the unsolved murders started18 July 2009 Top Court Didnrsquot Allow Probe of Osman Paksuumlt20 July 2009 Ergenekon Casersquos Second Phase started20 July 2009 Third Indictment was submitted to the court27 July 2009 HSYK (The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors) and Justice Ministery reached a compromise on the appointment of Ergenekon prosecutors

3 November 1996A traffic accident near the small town of Susurluk brought illegal organizations to light The ldquodeep staterdquo phenomenon has surfaced for the first time by a traffic accident near the small town of Susurluk A police officer a deputy and a convicted fugitive were in the same car This accident which is called as ldquoSusurluk Scandalrdquo revealed the relations between state politics and mafia Civil society supported the investigation by concerted actions called ldquoone minute of darkness for perpetual lightrdquo However Necmettin Erbakan then the prime minister declared allegations as nonsense Despite huge public support the investigation proved fruitless due to lack of political backing Lack of political support was the most evident with regard to Veli Kuumlccediluumlk The retired brigadier general who is now an Ergenekon detainee refused to testify in front of the Parliamentary Investigation Commission for Susurluk 1997The name Ergenekon as a clandestine organization was first pronounced The name Ergenekon as a clandestine organization was first pronounced by Erol Mutercimler a retired naval officer and a current detainee in the Ergenekon case Soon after him journalists Can Duumlndar and Celal Kazdağlı wrote a book entitled Ergenekon pointing to illegal organizations within state in this name Official recording of the word also corresponds to these dates At 10 March 1997 Uumlmit Oğuztan -a current detainee in the Ergenekon case- wrote a petition for the then ongoing Susurluk Commission In his petition he mentioned an organization named Ergenekon and defined this organization as the Turkish Gladio 2001First official document was found related with ErgenekonTuncay Guumlney an Ergenekon suspect and a key witness of Ergenekon probe had been investigated due to an ordinary fraud case During the search at Guumlneyrsquos office police found documents about the organizational structure of Ergenekon Further research had led to some reports prepared by police and intelligence services However no concrete action was taken 9 November 2005Two junior officers were caught red-handed during an illegal bombingAt 9 November 2005 two junior officers and a PKK informant bombed the Umut Bookstore belonging to Seferi Yılmaz at the Şemdinli district of Hakkari One person died during this attack however perpetrators of the attack were caught by bystanders and delivered to police officers After the public prosecutor came to place for investigation fire was opened on the crowd and another person lost his life The investigations showed that the car used by the assailants belonged to Gendarmerie Forces Searches within the car revealed a list of 105 people three Kalashnikovs belonging to Gendarmerie bombs and plans of various home and workplaces The incident grew when Yaşar Buumlyuumlkanıt then Commander of the Army backed these two junior officers by saying ldquoI know them they are good menrdquo Prosecutor Ferhat Sarıkaya

expanded the investigation with the claim that the unearthed gang might have connections with high ranking officials however he was disbarred by the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges Two junior officers were sentenced to 39 years However the Supreme Court of Appeals decided that a military court should be in charge of the investigation Both officers were released after their first trial in the military court Throughout the process the government was accused by the public for not backing the case just as happened during Susurluk trials 5 February 2006Father Andrea Santoro was murdered in TrabzonFather Andrea Santoro who was a Catholic priest in the Santa Maria Church in Trabzon was murdered by a 16 year old ultranationalist The murderer was caught after two days with his gun 5-11 May 2006Cumhuriyet daily was bombed three times during May 2006At 5 10 and 11 May 2006 Cumhuriyet daily a staunchly Kemalist newspaper has been target of hand grenades three times Initially the journal accused the Islamists for being the perpetrators of the attacks and for aiming to intimidate the Kemalist journal A large public campaign was started in which people were called to back the journal and the republic (Cumhuriyet means republic in Turkish) However later on Ergenekon investigation unearthed that the bombs used in these attacks belonged to the military and has the same cache number with the bombs discovered in Uumlmraniye which led to the start of Ergenekon investigation The journal itself accepted that the bombings were Ergenekon operations two years later on 15 July 2008 17 May 2006Council of State had been attacked a senior judge was shot deadWhile the political tension was rising due to the bombings of Cumhuriyet daily Alparslan Arslan who was later discovered to be the perpetrator of these bombings had attacked the Council of State leaving a senior judge dead Initially the attack was linked to Islamist extremists while Alparslan Arslan found guilty of the Council of State killing also said he attacked the court in protest of an anti-headscarf ruling it had made But Ergenekon investigation discovered evidence that he was connected with Ergenekon In 17 December 2008 both cases the bombing of Cumhuriyet and the attack on the Council of State were merged under the Ergenekon case 18 January 2007Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of his newspaper AgosEditor in Chief of Agos daily Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of his newspaper Agos by a 17 year old ultranationalist The assassin Oguumln Samast was captured the same day Hrant Dink was sentenced by the article 301 of Turkish penal code which punishes denigrating Turkishness Most of the people who had been involved in filing Dinkrsquos case are now imprisoned due to Ergenekon case pointing to the possible involvement of Ergenekon in this murderous plot After the assassination Dinkrsquos family declared that Hrant Dink was suspicious of Veli Kuumlccediluumlkrsquos desire to kill him 25 March 2007Nokta journal published ldquoCoup diariesrdquoA weekly journal Nokta published the diaries of retired Commander of Navy Oumlzden Oumlrnek Diaries revealed that during 2004 top commanders in Turkish Armed Forces were plotting a coup drsquoetat The mastermind of the plot was seen as Şener Eruygur a key suspect in Ergenekon investigation Oumlrnek denied the diaries and claimed that he had never written them and filed against the journal Following week the headquarters of Nokta was raided by the police and later on Nokta terminated itself due to increasing pressure However in the case of investigation in Mart 2008 it is technically proven that diaries were taken from

the personal computer of Oumlzden Oumlrnek These diaries constitute the backbone of the second Ergenekon indictment submitted on 10 March 2009 18 April 2007Three Christians were killed in an attack at a publishing house in MalatyaThree months after the Dink assassination a publishing house in Malatya was attacked and three Christians one of whom is a German citizen were killed Likewise in the Dink assassination the perpetrators were ultranationalist youngsters and they were linked with some of the key Ergenekon suspects This case was also later merged with Ergenekon on 21 November 2008 12 June 2007First Wave-27 hand grenades were found during a police raid to a shanty house in Uumlmraniye27 hand grenades were found during a police raid to a shanty house in Uumlmraniye These bombs have the same cache number with the bombs used during the bombings of Cumhuriyet daily Later the investigation revealed links with these bombs and the retired officer Muzaffer Tekin Muzaffer Tekin has links with the Council of State shooter Alparslan Arslan and also with the retired general Veli Kuumlccediluumlk and lawyer Kemal Kerinccedilsiz This started the process that led to unearthing of Ergenekon This police raid and subsequent arrests were later called as the first wave of Ergenekon In this first wave the retired Captain Muzaffer Tekin retired Junior Officers Oktay Yıldırım and Mahmut Oumlztuumlrk and Bekir Oumlztuumlrk head of an ultranationalist group called Kuvva-yı Milliye were arrested 26 June 2007Second Wave-Weapons and explosives were found in EskişehirPolice raided a house belonging to the mother of the retired Major Fikret Emek and found large amounts of weapons and explosives Emek has been arrested Later as the investigation deepened writer Ergun Poyraz retired Captain Gazi Guumlder and four other people got arrested 21 January 2008Third Wave-Veli Kuumlccediluumlk got arrested31 people including retired Brigadier General Veli Kuumlccediluumlk retired Colonel and also head of an ultranationalist group called Kuvva-yı Milliye Fikri Karadağ retired Captain Mehmet Zekeriya Oumlztuumlrk lawyer Kemal Kerinccedilsiz Akşam columnist Guumller Koumlmuumlrcuuml the spokesperson of the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate Sevgi Erenerol Susurluk case convict Sami Hoştan mafia leaders Sedat Peker Ali Yasak (known as Drej Ali) and Uumlmit Oğuztan got arrested During the interrogation of the suspects police reached to a death list which includes Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk journalist Fehmi Koru mayor of Diyarbakır Osman Baydemir and deputies of DTP Ahmet Tuumlrk Sabahat Tuncel and former deputy Leyla Zana According to the list Orhan Pamuk was the first target and even two people were hired for the assassination 21 February 2008Fourth Wave-Academics got arrestedAssociate Professors Emin Guumlrses and Uumlmit Sayin journalist Vedat Yenerer businessman Hayrettin Ertekin and Muammer Karabulut got arrested 21 March 2008Fifth Wave ndash Doğu Perinccedilek and İlhan Selccediluk were detained Perinccedilek got arrested13 people including Doğu Perinccedilek leader of the Workersrsquo Party Kemal Alemdaroğlu former president of İstanbul University İlhan Selccediluk chief columnist of the Cumhuriyet daily were detained Alemdaroğlu and Selccediluk were released while Perincek was arrested 26 March 2008

Coup diaries were verifiedCoup diaries that had been published at the April of 2007 by Nokta journal were techically proven to be extracted from the personal computer of Oumlzden Oumlrnek Alper Goumlrmuumlş chief editor of Nokta journal acquitted from the cases filed against him but the court also ruled that there is no need for further investigation These diaries are part of the second indictment of Ergenekon case 13 June 2008Taraf daily unraveled a secret meeting between Osman Paksuumlt and İlker BaşbuğTaraf daily claimed that Osman Paksuumlt Deputy President of the Constitutional Court and İlker Başbuğ then the Commander of Army met on 4 March 2008 two weeks before the filing of closure case against AKP After initial denial both sides confirmed the meeting 5 July 2008Sixth Wave-Retired generals were arrestedPolice detained the former Commander of the Gendermarie General Şener Eruygur former Commander of the 1 Army General Hurşit Tolon Sinan Ayguumln a businesman and the chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) and Mustafa Balbay Cumhuriyets Ankara representative Eruygur and Tolon were arrested while Balbay and Ayguumln were released but Balbay got arrested again at 06 March 2009 7 July 2008ldquoEldivenrdquo (Glove) coup plot was discoveredDocuments that were found in the office of Şener Eruygur revealed a third coup plan other than the two plans that were revealed by the coup diaries After the failure of Yellow girl and Moonlight Eruygur seems to have lost the support of the other commanders and according to the Eldiven document he planned a coup himself During the same search it is also revealed that Eruygur filed documents about the then Chieff of Staff Yaşar Buumlyuumlkanıt 9 July 2008American Consulate was attackedThree police officers and the assault were shot dead during the fight It is found that Erkan Kargın one of the assailants had several phone contacts with some of the Ergenekon suspects 9 July 2008Oumlzkoumlk made an interview with the Milliyet daily he didnrsquot deny the allegations at the coup diariesAt the interview he gave to Milliyet daily Hilmi Oumlzkoumlk former Chieff of Staff didnrsquot deny the allegations that during his term some of the top commanders had been involved in a coup plot When asked about testifying in front of the court he said that he would think about it when the time comes At April 2009 he secretly testified to the prosecutors of Ergenekon investigation 14 July 2008First indictment was presented to the courtFirst indictment was presented to the 13th Branch of the Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes and the court accepted the indictment at 25th of July thus the trial started officially Suspects arrested after the fifth wave and the allegations related with coup diaries are not included in this indictment Detainees between the sixth and tenth waves and the coup diaries are included in the second indictment The first indictment is 2455 pages long and it includes many shady events in Turkeyrsquos history like the assassination of Uğur Mumcu a prominent journalist and the Gazi events and the recent attacks on the Cumhuriyet buildings and the attack on the Council of State 23 July 2008

Police launched the seventh wave of arrestsA new wave of arrests in the Ergenekon investigation has targeted senior members of the Workers Party and staff members of the conservative Milli Ccediloumlzuumlm (National Solution) magazine According to reports police detained 26 people around the country under the direction of the Istanbul Prosecutors Office 14 August 2008Retired Colonel Arif Doğan was arrested Police raided the home of retired colonel Arif Doğan and found large amounts of explosives and weapons (2 kalashnikoves 1000 bullets 1000 empty bullets and 280 hand grenades) Doğan was arrested Doğan has worked as the Diyarbakır chief of JİTEM before Veli Kuumlccediluumlk With his arrest the Ergenekon probe has passed towards the east of Euphrates meaning that illegal acts and organizations formed during the war on terror in the Southeastern Turkey will be investigated for the first time In the course of investigation it is found that Doğan had transferred one million dollars to one of his relatives in USA while he was serving at Yalova The source of the money is yet unidentified 3 September 2008Kocaeli Garrison Commander visited the Ergenekon detainee generals on behalf of Turkish Armed ForcesThree days after the appointment of İlker Başbuğ as the new Chieff of Staff Kocaeli Garrison Commander Lieut Gen Galip Mendi paid a visit to imprisoned generals Şener Eruygur and Hurşit Tolon The visit is made public by a statement posted on the website of General Staff The statement declared that the visit is made on behalf of the Turkish Armed Forces 18 September 2008Eighth wave was launchedAt the eighth wave of arrests at Ergenekon probe acting officers are arrested for the first time Five lieutenants and a military school student Levent Temiz former head of Nationalist Hearths artist Nurseli İdiz and talent agent Seyhan Soylu are among the eleven detainees The lieutenants are accused to be part of Headquarter Homes (Karargah Evleri) a sub branch of Ergenekon 23 September 2008Ninth wave was launchedSixteen more people were arrested including journalist Tuncay Oumlzkan a former police chief Adil Serdar Saccedilan and former mayor of Esenyurt district of Istanbul Guumlrbuumlz Ccedilapan 20 October 2008Ergenekon trial began The trial started by the reading of the indictment 17 Aralık 2008Council of State attack case was merged with the Ergenekon investigationSupreme Court of Appeals decided that May 2006 Council of State attack case should be merged with the Ergenekon investigation 11th Branch of the Ankara Court for Serious Crimes which was ruling the Council of State attack case approved this decision in 19 April 2009 Finally 13th Branch of the Istanbul Court for Serious Crimes which rules the Ergenekon case merged the two cases 7 January 2009Tenth Wave-General Kılınccedil Major General Şenel and former president of the Higher Education Board Prof Kemal Guumlruumlz detained During the police raids that had been conducted simultaneously in twelve provinces around the country 37 people were arrested The former General-Secretary of the National Security

Council (MGK) Tuncer Kilinc retired Major General Erdal Senel the former head of the Special Operations Unit Ibrahim Sahin the former president of the Higher Education Board Prof Kemal Guumlruumlz writer Yalccedilın Kuumlccediluumlk Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Doumlnmez who is still on duty (disappeared during the operations but surrendered five days later) retired General Kemal Yavuz are among the detainees The operation started when the police noticed that Ibrahim Şahin ordered the assassination of the leaders of the Armenian community in Sivas Security teams also searched the buildings of the İSTEK Foundation and Yeditepe University owned by former Istanbul Mayor Bedrettin Dalan and the home of Sabih Kanadoğlu honorary chief judge of the Supreme Court of Appeals At 20 of April large amounts of weaponry and explosives were found in the lands belonging to İSTEK Foundation 08 January 2009Arms caches were unearthed at various placesTurkish police launched a series of searches after sketches were found at the home of İbrahim Şahin who was arrested a day before The largest cache of weaponry and explosives were found in the Goumllbaşı district of Ankara Police also found explosives in Sincan Ankara based on the sketches found at the house of Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Doumlnmez another Ergenekon detainee of tenth wave The grenades found in Sincan were identical to the grenades that had been found in Uumlmraniye at 12 June 2007 Other than these two smaller arms caches were unearthed at Ankara Trabzon Antalya Sakarya and SivasAt 19 June 2009 military prosecutors confirmed that the sketch found at the house of Doumlnmez was drawn by him and filed charges against Doumlnmez demanding up to 12 years in prison Additionally in the indictment prosecutor stated that hand grenades found in Doumlnmezs home had been supplied to the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) by the state-owned Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) 14 January 2009Ergenekon fugitive Brigadier General Levent Ersoumlz was captured in AnkaraOne of the key suspects of the Ergenekon case retired Brigadier General Levent Ersoumlz who fled to Moscow when he learned he was wanted was apprehended at an Ankara hospital yesterday He has been wanted by police since July 2008 Later day police found wiretapping records of former Chief of General Staff Hilmi Oumlzkoumlkrsquos phone conversations at Ersoumlzrsquos home15 January 2009Interrogation of Tuncer Kılınccedil evoked a new debate on ldquoEncuumlmen-i Danişrdquo (Consultation Council)After it is revealed that the Ergenekon prosecutors questioned former General-Secretary of the National Security Council (MGK) Tuncer Kılınc a detainee of tenth wave about Encuumlmen-i Daniş this led to a new public debate on whether Encuumlmen-i Daniş is the high council of the Ergenekon or not Encuumlmen-i Daniş which means Consulation Council consists of all high profile members like retired top commanders retired bureaucrats diplomats and former politicians Members of the Council confirmed the bi-weekly secret meetings but denied any link with Ergenekon 22 January 2009Eleventh wave was launchedA total of 20 police officers from the Special Forces unit and army officers who have connections with former police chief İbrahim Şahin were detained in operations waged in 15 provinces within the scope of the 11th wave of operation Ergenekon The operation which was conducted 15 days after the 10th wave covered major cities such as Ankara Istanbul and Izmir as well as Turkeys southeastern provinces Mustafa Oumlzbek the chairman of Turkish Metal Union Erhan Goumlksel the chairman of Verso Center of Political Research were among the latest detainees in the operation 27 February 2009

Voice record of Karadayı was revealed through internetA voice record belonging to the Former Chieff of Staff Hakkı Karadayı started circulating through internet In this recorded speech Karadayı unravels how he intervened in the presidential election process and also he talks about the roles he undertook during the previous coups in Turkey 06 March 2009Mustafa Balbay was arrestedCumhuriyets Ankara representative Mustafa Balbay was arrested Later at 16 March documents revealed at his computer were published in a web based news portal (tempo24comtr) In these documents Balbay explains his coup plans in detail So far neither Balbay nor the Cumhuriyet daily where he used to work denied the diaries 08 March 2009Death wells were openedAt 8 March upon the request of the public prosecutor acid wells claimed as death wells were opened for investigation in the Cizre district of Sirnak At 14 March 22 bones and a human skull aside some clothing were found At 23rd of March Cemal Temizoumlz who served in the region during 1990-1996 was arrested at Kayseri 10 March 2009Second indictment was submittedSecond indictment was submitted The trials of this indictment will start at 20 July This indictment nearly 2000 pages covers the detainees from the sixth wave to ninth wave A third indictment will be prepared for the later wavesThe indictment is composed of five chapters The first chapter summarizes the first indictment and the second gives information about the Ergenekon organization The third and the fourth chapters list activities and crimes committed by the organization And the final chapter includes individual acts of the suspects 13 April 2009Twelfth Wave-University rectors were arrestedAt least 18 people including the current Başkent University rector and three former university rectors were detained Mehmet Haberal current rector of Başkent University Professor Fatih Hilmioğlu former rector of İnoumlnuuml University in the southeastern province of Malatya Professor Ferit Bernay former rector of Ondokuz Mayıs University in the Black Sea province of Samsun and Professor Mustafa Yurtkuran former rector of Uludağ University in the western province of Bursa are among the detainees Professor Erol Manisalı daily Cumhuriyet columnist and retired lecturer at Istanbul University was also detained in Istanbul 20 April 2009Arms cache was found in the land belonging to İSTEK FoundationMany weapons and bombs were unearthed in an excavation that was conducted as part of the Ergenekon probe on land that belonged to the İSTEK Foundation in Istanbulrsquos Poyrazkoumly district The items found included 2000 bullets five booby traps 10 hand grenades 13 fog bombs 11 light anti-tank weapons 23 emergency flares and a number of 50-millimeter bomb fuses The foundation said it was a protected area and a military training zone implying that weaponry should be belonging to military At 29 April military disproved this statement and also claimed that none of the weapons found belonged to the military However a 10-page report by the supplier Makina Kimya Enstituumlsuuml sent to the Prosecutorrsquos Office showed that the weapons found in Poyrazkoumly were sent to the army navy air force gendarmerie and special forces Owner of the foundation Bedrettin Dalan is an Ergenekon fugitive currently in USA 18 May 2009

Tuumlrkan Saylan diedTuumlrkan Saylan whose house had been raided during the twelfth wave died of cancer Her funeral at 19 May attracted large crowds

4 June 2009Thirteenth Wave- Army officers are arrested as part of an investigation into the ammunition found in PoyrazkoumlyTwenty people including 16 army officers on active duty were detained in simultaneous operations conducted in five Turkish provinces It was claimed that the detained soldiers had ties to retired major Levent Pektaş who was earlier arrested in relation to the arms cache found in Poyrazkoumly Istanbul 10 June 2009Hundredth hearing in the Ergenekon trial was heldErgenekon trial which started at 20 October 2008 held its hundredth hearing in 10 June 2009 Thus hundred hearings had been held in this 233 days 12 June 2009Taraf daily published a military action plan targeting the ruling JDP and the Guumllen communityTaraf daily published the document of an action plan captured in the last wave of Ergenekon The document is prepared and signed by Colonel Dursun Ccediliccedilek who is still on active duty The plan is said to contain efforts to end the activities of religious movements particularly the AKP government and the Guumllen group The plan called for the Guumllen community to be declared an armed terror organization by having the police find artillery in the communityrsquos houses Other actions proposed in the plan are said to have been meant to leave the impression that the Guumllen community is in cooperation with the outlawed Kurdistan Workersrsquo Party or PKK in contact with institutions like the CIA and MOSSAD and behind the Ergenekon case The plan also reportedly includes efforts to discredit the National Education Ministry Few days later at the 16th of June JDP filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutors and prime minister said that his party would not remain silent Military also started an investigation but the military prosecutors ruled at 23rd of June that the document was a forgery and there was no need for the prosecution of Dursun Ccediliccedilek25 June 2009 Turkish Parliament paved the way for civilian courts to try military personnelTurkeys parliament has passed legislation aimed at meeting European Union membership criteria to ensure military personnel are tried in civilian courts during peacetime rather than in military courts The legislation passed on Friday requires civilian courts to try members of the armed forces who are accused of crimes including threats to national security constitutional violations organizing armed groups and attempts to topple the government The change to the penal code also says civilians cannot be tried in military courts unless the country is in a state of martial law or at war At 26th June İlker Başbuğ the Chieff of Staff made a press conference reflecting the unrest of military with regard to the debates on the action plan published by Taraf and the legislative changes that enables the military personnel to be tried by civilian courts Despite voting affirmatively for the legislation secularist Republican Peoples Party (CHP) later applied the top court at 13 July in order to annul the law At 23rd July the top court accepted to deal with the change 30 June 2009Dursun Ccediliccedilek and eight other colonels are investigated by the Ergenekon prosecutors Following the military prosecutorrsquos ruling that there is no need for the prosecution of Colonel Dursun Ccediliccedilek Ergenekon prosecutors started an investigation of Ccediliccedilek and eight other colonels within the scope of Ergenekon probe Dursun Ccediliccedilek was arrested by court order the same day but was released by a higher court a day later

16 July 2009Trial of Colonel Cemal Temizoumlz with regard to the unsolved murders started The most comprehensive case dealing with the unsolved murders in Turkeys southeast started with a court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır asserting a serious claim about Col Cemal Temizoumlz the head of the provincial gendarmerie forces in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri The court alleged that Temizoumlz forced confessors to kill 20 people within the scope of the fight against terrorism when he was commissioned in Cizre town in the southeastern province of Şırnak 18 July 2009Top Court Didnrsquot Allow Probe of Osman PaksuumltTurkeyrsquos highest court announced that there was no need to launch an investigation of the courtrsquos vice president Osman Paksuumlt regarding his alleged involvement with suspects in the ongoing Ergenekon probe and leaking court information The decision constitutes a precedent in the ongoing Ergenekon caseDiscussing the case on Friday the top court concluded that court member Osman Paksuumlt leaked information to the third parties on the closure case of the AKP but decided not to launch an investigation into him on grounds that the collected evidence was illegal as he had his phone tapped without court approval The top court voted 10-1 against any investigation into Osman Paksuumlt 20 July 2009 Ergenekon Casersquos Second Phase startedThe Istanbul High Criminal Court has begun trying 56 suspects under the second indictment of the Ergenekon probe The 1909-page indictment includes accusations against 56 suspects including retired generals Hursit Tolon and Mehmet Sener Eruygur 16 of those suspects have already been under arrest Prosecutors demanded aggravated life imprisonment for 13 suspects of the Ergenekon probe The court is expected to decide first whether to merge the second case with the first one in which 86 other people are already on trial for their alleged involvement in the organization They are also accused of planning assassinations and bombings to sow chaos and overthrow the government 20 July 2009Third Indictment was submitted to the courtThe Ergenekon prosecutors submitted the third indictment of the Ergenekon probe to the İstanbul Higher Criminal Court where the current hearing of Ergenekon suspects goes on The indictment is 1454 pages and indicts 52 people 37 of whom are still under arrest The suspects were arrested between Jan 10 2009 and April 17 2009 (11th wave and later on) 27 July 2009HSYK (The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors) and Justice Ministery reached a compromise on the appointment of Ergenekon prosecutorsEarlier members of HSYK demanded the reassignment of the judges and prosecutors of the ongoing Ergenekon probe while Justice Ministry resisted this demand This led to a three week deadlock which was finally resolved on 27 July with the decision that Ergenekon prosecutors would keep their positions but a second name Istanbul Vice Chief Public Prosecutor Olcay Seccedilkin would also be assigned to the prosecution team Ministry of Justice would launch an inquiry into the complaints and charges against the Ergenekon prosecutors if sufficient evidence exists Three week deadlock created a huge public controversy while both HSYK and ministry accused each other for exceeding their powers The debates were triggered when the photos of a meeting between Ali Suat Ertosun a member of HSYK and Engin Aydın an Ergenekon suspect appeared on the journals

Munitions

A common objection raised by detractors of the investigation is that the group does not have the wherewithal to carry out large-scale militant acts This section aims to clarify what is known about the munitions presented as evidence This is also of relevance to linking acts allegedly carried out by the organization as it has been alleged that weapons of the same type and serial number were found in several locations Debate has focused in particular on the grenades which can be uniquely identified by the fuse type (Turkish fuumlnye grubu) and batch number (Turkish kafile numarası)[159]According to police officials HGR DM 41 indicates German origin SPLITTER denotes a fragmentation grenade COMP-B means composition B LOS indicates European production up to NATO standards while the number following FMP indicates the batch[160]

Akhisar and EyuumlpOne of the two grenades recovered in Akhisar Manisa had the serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 24 Another grenade from Eyuumlp İstanbul had the serial number HGR DM 41 COMP-B LOS FMR-24[160]

Urla İzmir (1999)One of the ten grenades had the serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 16[160]

Şemdinli (2005)Two grenades used in the Şemdinli incident on 9 November 2005 were found to bear the serial number HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 134[161]

Cumhuriyet (2006)Alparslan bombed the offices of the newspaper Cumhuriyet in May 2006 The grenades did not go off in his first two attempts he succeeded on his third The NATO standard Makine ve Kimya Enduumlstrisi Kurumu (MKE) model 44 grenades had the following serial numbers[159]

TAPA M 204 A 2KF-MKE-91 12-77 (5 May 2006) TAPA M 204 A 2KF-MKE-173 9-85 (10 May 2006) TAPA M 204 A 2KF-MKE-91 12-77 (11 May 2006)

The part before the slash denotes the fuse type while the part after it denotes the batch number For example the batch number of the first entry means batch 91 December 1977 The army bought 8800 such grenades from the MKE in 1978[94]

Uumlmraniye İstanbul (12 June 2007)The serial numbers of some of the 27 grenades found in Uumlmraniye are[161]

HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 16 HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 24 HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 22 TAPA M 204 A2KF-MKE-169 5-85[159]

These grenades are registered to the Hasdal barracks in Istanbul[162]Fikret Emek (26 June 2007)

The recovered materiel included 11 kg of C-3 a telescopic rifle a Kalashnikov a shotgun M-16 shells 12 grenades (10 from the MKE) smoke bombs 12 210g TNT setups 6 500g TNT moulds a 15 kg TNT mould a 1 kg demolition block ignition munitions This is sufficient to flatten a twelve-floor reinforced concrete structure with each floor over 400 m2[163] The grenades have serial number TAPA M204 A2KF-MKE-91 12-77 matching the ones from the Cumhuriyet attack[104][159]

Trabzon (13 December 2008)With the help of a tip-off on 3 December 2008[164] the Trabzon police found nine grenades of the same batch number as those in Uumlmraniye In nearby Yomra the police seized a gun and eight 765 mm bullets for it a Kalashnikov rifle and three chargers a total of 420 762 mm Kalashnikov bullets and a grenade In the city eight grenades were found seven hidden inside a washing

machine and another in an oven Trabzon governor Nuri Okutan said that none of the suspects were public officials or members of the military[165] The serial numbers of the Trabzon grenades are[161]

HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 143 HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 197 HGR DM 41 SPLITTER COMP-B LOS FMP 125

The grenades in Uumlmraniye had also been found following a tip-off in Trabzon However the former tip-off was to the gendarmerie rather than the police[164]

Mustafa Doumlnmez (7 January 2009)22 grenades over 100 bullets 1 Kalashnikov and 4 pistols were found in Doumlnmezs vacation house in Sakarya[104]

İbrahim Şahin (7 January 2009)

Three drawings and 9 unlicensed Glock pistols were found in the home of special forces police chief İbrahim Şahin The drawings led to the excavation of 8000 bullets (mostly Uzi) 2 light-weight anti-tank weapons 1 kg of plastic explosives 10 hand grenades whose serial numbers had been removed and 10 smoke bombs The recovered weapons were determined to be buried in July 2008 (the month generals Eruygur and Tolon were detained) They are reported to be different from the ones that were entrusted to Şahins department and went missing afterSusurluk scandal[166]

Ergenekon Terror Organization Against the Law and StateErgenekon Terror Organization (ETO) is an armed terrorist organization in accordance to Turkish Penal Code (TCK) as well as Law on the Fight Against Terrorism The armed criminal attacks committed by the organization have fit well enough to the terrorism defined in the Turkish Penal Code These actions were classified as the crimes against the State and Public Order within the Turkish Penal CodeAs an illegal armed organization ETO exhibits several similarities to other terrorist groups operating in Turkey in terms of its organizational goals foundation structure and activitiesETO like other terrorist organizations in Turkey violated the laws in chapters 4 and 5 under section 4 of Turkish penal code (TCK) For example Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has committed the crime of ldquoWeakening or Destroying or Seizing the Authority of the Staterdquo Article 302 other terrorist organizations like Turkish Hizballah and DevSol (DHKPC) have violated the laws at Article 309 of penal code which specifies the ldquoCrimes against the Constitutionrdquo In a similar way ETO has violated the crimes defined under the Article 311 and 312 which state the ldquoCrimes against the Legislative and Executive Branchesrdquo in the Turkish Penal CodeETO was designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish National Police and National Intelligence Organization (MIT)ETO established a hierarchial organizational structure but relies heavily on cooperative relationships among its members The presence of ex-military and retired flag rank officers within the group membership made it easier for the organizationrsquos paramilitary structureThe organization operates with a dual structure the first was established formally and the second informally Both continued to operate professionally in accordance to ETOrsquos goals When all political and societal activities were managed and conducted by its formal branch whereas all other illegal activities were directed by its covert informal branch in great secrecy It was discovered during the investigation that both members of formal and informal branches have never appeared in public together however the relationship continued between the leadership of these branches at a certain level in fact the leadership of these two branches has managed to establish an equal authority for management of the organization The investigation revealed that some gang members used aliases and secretly kept in touch with other members on a regular basis however when these people were asked about such meetings they insisted othwerwise

ETO works on a highly detailed doctrinaire discipline Documents found in the homes of its leaders later revealed that the organization was strictly faithful to this doctrinaire discipline it managed all its activities based on the stated purposes by employing the exact tactics that were instructed on these same documentsThe similarity in modus operandi of these two branches of ETO formal and informal was understood from the these same documents as well as their action plans For example while assassination plans against the people who would not serve their purpose were instructed as a modus operandi for its informal branch whereas to group and involve the civil society organizations more often in their influence to political decision making process was suggested as tactics in these documents and all were succesfully employed by ETO Thatrsquos why ETOrsquos modus operandi must be analyzed hand in hand with its instructional manuals For example ETOrsquos peaciful looking mass civil meetings which was coordinated by its formal branch coincided to the time of the assassination of a Council of State Judge which was committed by its informal branch indicated the ETOrsquos plans as in form of violent and non-violent natureETO was also distinguished itself from other terrorist groups operating in Turkey in some aspects Unlike typical terrorist groups in Turkey that aimed to destroy the ldquoconstitutional orderrdquo and ldquoterritorial integrityrdquo of the country ETO emerged as a group that has attacked the democratic order To reach its aim the terrorist organization has established different work areas and created its membership from various fields ETO members interfered into presidential elections of some political parties formed bogus terrorist organizations extended its operations from underground crime world to the entertainment world The organization was able establish a network from retired soldiers to ex-soldiers and ex-cons to white-color occupations The government tactics that were employed successfully against other similar terrorist organizations did not work against the ETO in fact such attempts were always curtained professionally by some hidden ETO members who were inside the government structure political arena press and the organized crime Many investigations went into dead end and left the perpetrators unknown This once more proved that the organization had the capability of postmodern structure which went beyond the detection of classical counter-terrorism tactics and standard security assessments To achieve its goals ETO showed a great skill of an organizational-operational structure to commit crimes nationwide it has the ability to eliminate the legislative and executive organs by force adequacy in terms of its armed and unarmed members and determination to commit acts in terms of intensity of attacksOne of the most striking aspects of ETO is its intelligence network as well as the use of its network efficiently In this context ETO has leaked into some target groups and was able to gather intelligence via professional methodsETO has used the religious and national feelings of the people to reach out its political purposes by abusing the sensitive issues like Cyprus and flag in their rhetoricrsquos professionallyThe most striking aspect that distinguished ETO from other similar groups is its strong structure and effects to decision making process within the state mechanism Because of its configuration and construction ETO has not been detected through all these years During the searches in the homes and offices of ETO members with search warrants a lot of documents and notes were seized These documents later revealed how the organization was able to reach its hands into the top secret government documents and to monitor the highest members of the government More surprisingly seized weapons and explosives belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces indicated the level of danger created by ETO to the national securityIn detection and exposure of ETO a new code within the Turkish Criminal Procedure Law which was passed on June 1 2005 provided a big help to the Prosecutors who were given special authority Judge-approved warrants that allowed prosecutors a big power to use evidences retrieved via physical trace wiretapping forensic investigation methods and secret witnesses Several other officials assisted judges and prosecutors in many stages of this legal process Such provisions led the arrest questioning and detention of many suspects within the rule of law

Today ETO has been on trial based on two reasons First the organization has been accused of eliminating the democratically elected legislative and executive organs of the state by force second using its covert agents within the government ETO has managed to pose a great danger to the national security and Turkish government officials by putting their lives in grave danger

Ergenekon arrests

On 21 January 2008 news broke of a major operation by Turkish police against an ultranationalistnetwork known as Ergenekon Commentators have argued that a number ofpolitical assassinations originally assumed to be unconnected are in fact linked to leadingfigures in this network including the assassinations of a priest Father Andreas Santoro inTrabzon (2006) Hrant Dink in Istanbul (2007) and a judge in Ankara in 2006The name Ergenekon (which comes from an old Turkish legend about the origins of theTurkish people in Central Asia) was made public in a book by journalists Can Dundar andCelal Kazadagli in 1997 In their book entitled Ergenekon ndash The State inside the State aformer Turkish naval general (Erol Mutercimler) told the authors that he had first learned in1971 of the existence ofldquoan organization above the Government the General Staff and the bureaucracy It wasfounded on the initiative of the CIA and the Pentagon after 27 May [1960 the firstmilitary coup]rdquoHe also told Dundar that he started to investigate and discovered that ldquothere were generalssecurity personnel professors journalists businessmen average people inside it Small unitsthat we nowadays call ldquogangsrdquo are used as triggers by the larger organization calledErgenekonrdquo Dundar notes that such entities were set up in other NATO countries as wellduring the Cold War but in Turkeyrsquos case it was never dismantledA serious investigation against Ergenekon only began in the summer of 2007 when munitionsand weapons29 were found in a house in the Umraniye district of Istanbul Little was knownby the public until January 2008 because of a press embargo imposed to safeguard theinvestigation Then on 21 January 2008 37 suspects were arrested on suspicion of beingmembers of an ultra-nationalist network30 (Bianet)In March 2008 journalist Samil Tayyar Ankara correspondent of the Star daily newspaperpublished another book Operation Ergenekon giving an account of the deeds and ideologyof this ultra-nationalist network31 In an interview on 2 March Tayyar explained his findingsldquoErgenekon is a structure targeting the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the EUprocess using all kinds of illegal methods to reach their aimsrdquo32In his book Tayyar also claims high-ranking generals attempted to organise coups in 2003and 2004 against the AKP governmentldquoThe normalization process which began when in 2004 the coup (planning) generalsretired from the Turkish General Staff created a more secure environment for Turkishdemocracy But when the opposition on the anti-AKP and anti-EU axis lost hope for acoup or a military warning to the government they went underground from 2005onwardsrdquo (Operation Ergenekon p 11)Tayyar alleges that many of the political assassinations of recent years are linked to thisorganization The strategy of this group he claims was not only to organize attacks againstthe government liberal intellectuals and minority leaders but also to attack Kemalistnewspapers and intellectuals and then blame Islamists

Oktay Yildirim a retired general whose fingerprints according to Tayyar quoting the

prosecution were found on grenades discovered in the Umraniye raids allegedly had detailedinformation about Ergenekonrsquos structure on his confiscated computer This led to more raidsin Bursa and Eskisehir and the collection of further information This has brought about thearrest of up to 50 persons to date including former military personnel nationalist lawyerspoliticians and journalistsAccording to Tayyar the investigation would not have been possible without collaborationbetween civil and military forces In the interview with Sundayrsquos Zaman on 2 March33 heunderlines that within the armed forces the unease about Ergenekon had become strongerldquoI think (Chief of General Staff Gen Ya1048826ar) Buyukanit who will retire this Augustindirectly contributed to the operation against Ergenekonhellip This is why there is a veryserious reaction from the nationalists toward Buyukanit they are not happy about hisimpartiality Actually when you look at transcripts of the telephone conversations of theErgenekon detainees you can see the heavy cursing in them against BuyukanitrdquoOn 21 March 200834 seven more persons were arrested including Dogu Perincekchairperson of the Workersrsquo Party Ilhan Selcuk columnist at the Cumhuriyet newspaper andKemal Alemdaroglu a former rector of Istanbul UniversityWho are these people now arrested and charged with forming a terrorist organization with theaim of overthrowing the current government

Veli KucukOne prominent figure who was arrested is Veli Kucuk He is widely considered by the pressto be a former leader of JITEM (Jandarma Istihbarat ve Terorle Mucadele) the GendarmerieIntelligence and Anti-Terror unit which played a role in the fight against the PKK in SouthEast AnatoliaIt has never been officially acknowledged that JITEM even exists However Kucuk himselfwas quoted in Todayrsquos Zaman on 30 January 200835 as acknowledging his own role asldquofounder of JITEMrdquo Kucuk was active during the war against the PKK33 httpwwwsundayszamancomsundaydetaylardoload=detayamplink=326634 httpwwwbianetorgenglishkategorienglish105802more-detentions-and-arrests-in-ergenekon-case- 11 -~ wwwesiweborg ~In an interview with Todayrsquos Zaman on 30 January 200836 informant Abdulkadir Ayganwho was allegedly involved in JITEM activities for many years talked about Kucukrsquos role asJITEM group commander in the years 1990-91ldquoJITEMrsquos headquarters was in a large building with two floors All personnel in thebuilding used to wear civilian clothes The vehicles used in official service had civilianplates however these were the gendarmeriersquos registered vehicles It is certain that he[Kucuk] was one of the founders of the organization However his assertion that hefounded JITEM alone is not accurate I think that he is trying to protect the mastermindsand prove that he is loyal to themrdquoJITEM features in at least two official reports as well One is the report from January 1997by Kutlu Savas special rapporteur of the Prime Ministerrsquos Office about the Susurlukscandal37 which exposed the connections between the security forces politicians andorganised crime in operations against the PKK The Savas report38 argued that JITEMexistedldquoEven if the Gendarmeriersquos high command continues to deny it the existence of JITEMis an unavoidable fact It may be the case that JITEM no longer exists that it was

disbanded that its personnel was transferred to other units that the documents werearchived There are however a number of agents who served in JITEM who are alivetoday The existence of JITEM was moreover no mistake JITEM was formed out ofnecessityrdquo39In 2002 Veli Kucuk wrote on the website wwwozturklercom (ldquothe true Turksrdquo) that ldquotheway of the great Turkish nation is through Ergenekonrdquo The site was maintained by SedatPeker who Turkish media claim had served with Kucuk in the gendarmerie in Kocaeli in the1990s In 2007 Peker was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for involvement in organisedcrime He is currently in prison and was recently interrogated by the prosecutor in theErgenekon investigationMany Turkish papers also reported that the investigations have revealed a plan to assassinateNobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk According to daily Posta Veli Kucuk had tried toarrange for a hit man to target Pamuk through the contacts of a former army sergeantMuhammed YuceKemal KerincsizLawyer Kemal Kerincsiz is another key figure in the nationalist movement in Turkey arevered figure among nationalists40 and founder of the Great Union of Lawyers (BuyukHukukcular Birligi) a right wing NGO In January 2008 he was arrested for being a memberof ldquoa terrorist organizationrdquo with the aim of promoting instability

According to Bianet Kerincsizldquofirst came to public attention when he filed a complaint to stop a conference entitledlsquoThe Ottoman Armenians in the Period of the Declining Empirersquo scheduled for May2005 The conference finally took place on 23 September but only because theorganisers were able to circumvent the ban by hosting the conference at a venue notmentioned in the banrdquo41Kerincsiz used the sections of the Penal Code that curtail freedom of expression such as Art301 to sue journalists authors and academics Ioannis Grigoriadis describes this strategy in apaper in October 2006ldquoKerincsiz skillfully exploited the remaining illiberal traits of the Turkish criminallegislation as well as the failure of judicial authorities to readjust the interpretation andimplementation of existing legislation on liberal lineshellip Kerincsiz targeted an increasingnumber of Turkish intellectuals who personified the liberal democratic face of republicanTurkey as well as minoritiesrdquo42Kerincsiz and the Great Union of Lawyers were responsible for most of the trials based onarticle 301 These included the trials of

1048826 Nobel prize winning author Orhan Pamuk charged in 2005 for comments on theArmenian and Kurdish questions

1048826 Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink charged repeatedly in 2005 and 2006 fordenigrating Turkishness

1048826 Writer Elif Safak charged in September 2006 for passages of her book ldquoThe Bastardof Istanbulrdquo

1048826 Journalists such as Murat Belge Ismet Berkan Hasan Cemal Erol Katircioglu HalukSahin charged in 2006

Kerincsiz also staged several demonstrations in front of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchatedemanding its expulsion from Turkey The accusation of the prosecution is that many ofthese actions were closely coordinated with other parts of Ergenekon to prepare anatmosphere for assassinations

Sevgi ErenerolSevgi Erenerol who was also arrested is the spokesperson for the Turkish OrthodoxPatriarchate and sister of the current primate Papa Eftim IV The Turkish OrthodoxPatriarchate is a strange organization it was founded during the War of Turkish Independencein 1922 by ethnic Greeks who supported the Turkish troops43 (before the time when most ofthe Greek population of Turkey was exchanged with the Turkish population of Greece underthe Lausanne Treaty) to oppose the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of IstanbulThe church is something of a family enterprise Sevgirsquos grandfather was the first patriarchAfter the population exchange in 1924 ndash which forced all Anatolian Greeks to leave Turkey ndashand following the move of the Erenerol family to Istanbul there has been no community ofbelievers left aside from the family This has not stopped the church accumulating wealthwith support from the authorities howeverOn 30 January 2008 Hurriyet wrote about ldquoa patriarchate without community but realestaterdquo44 The Church currently owns three churches and many buildings in the centre ofIstanbul seized from the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Mustafa Akyol wrote on 2 February 2008that the ldquomini-size but super-rich Turkish Orthodox Church has become a devotee of the mostradical version of its founding ideologyrdquo45According to daily Milliyet the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul served as the placefor regular Ergenekon meetings46 Erenerol has herself been linked to the extreme right formany years She was once a candidate of the nationalist MHP for Parliament

Dogu PerincekIn March 2008 the offices of the small radical nationalist Workerrsquos Party (IP) were raided bythe police Its leader Dogu Perincek was arrested on charges of ldquobeing a senior member of aterrorist organization and obtaining and possessing classified documentsrdquo47 (Todayrsquos Zaman)According to Taraf daily material was found at IPrsquos headquarters which included detaileddescriptions of the security protocol for Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanitrsquos visits totwo cities as well as detailed drawings of court room buildings in Ankara This is seen bysome as evidence that Ergenekon was plotting further assassinations to be blamed onldquoIslamistsrdquo Perincek denies the allegations He suggested that the Ergenekon investigationconstituted an attempt to ldquoexhaust the Turkish Armyrdquo48 (Todayrsquos Zaman) with unfoundedallegations The number of individuals implicated in the Ergenekon investigation is growing by the dayThe list of those arrested reads like a whorsquos who of extreme right-wing nationalists hardlineKemalists retired military mobsters and nationalist intellectuals

1048826 Ergun Poyraz His bestselling book ldquoChildren of Moses Tayyip and Eminerdquo suggeststhat Prime Minister Erdoganrsquos rose to power as part of a ldquoZionist conspiracyrdquo Hewrote a similar book about Abdullah Gul As reported by Todayrsquos Zaman on 31March 2008 a CD found at the nationalist Workers Party (IP) headquarters revealsthat Poyraz received payments from JITEM49

1048826 Fikri Karadag a retired military officer today officially leader of the ultranationalistAssociation for the Union of Patriotic Forces

1048826 Muzaffer Tekin arrested earlier in the context of the investigation of the assassinationof Judge Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin and injuring 4 other members of the State Councilin Ankara in May 2006 which triggered anti-AKP demonstrations Kemalist mediahad claimed that the murder was the result of ldquoIslamic fundamentalismrdquo50

1048826 Sedat Peker Sami Hostan (also called rdquoSami the Albanianrdquo) Ali Yasak (ldquoDrej Alirdquo)and other alleged ultranationalist mafia figuresAccording to numerous newspaper reports (such as Stargundem51 on 26 January 2008) thecurrent investigation has already found links between the Ergenekon group and the attack onthe State Council in 2006 The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution has received a photo inwhich retired general Veli Kucuk is seen with Alparslan Arslan the murder suspect currentlyon trial Phone calls between the two from before the attack have also allegedly beenrecorded

European Parliament Resolution on Operation GladioOn November 22 1990 the European Parliament passed a resolution on Operation Gladio Joint resolution replacing B3-2021 2058 2068 2078 and 208790A having regard to the revelation by several European governments of the existence for 40 years of a clandestine parallel intelligence and armed operations organization in several Member States of the CommunityB whereas for over 40 years this organization has escaped all democratic controls and has been run by the secret services of the states concerned in collaboration with NATOC fearing the danger that such clandestine network may have interfered illegally in the internal political affairs of Member States or may still do soD whereas in certain Member States military secret services (or uncontrolled branches thereof) were involved in serious cases of terrorism and crime as evidenced by various judicial inquiriesE whereas these organizations operated and continue to operate completely outside the law since they are not subject to any parliamentary control and frequently those holding the highest government and constitutional posts are kept in the dark as to these mattersF whereas the various Gladio organizations have at their disposal independent arsenals and military ressources which give them an unknown strike potential thereby jeopardizing the democratic structures of the countries in which they are operating or have been operatingG greatly concerned at the existence of decision-making and operational bodies which are not subject to any form of democratic control and are of a completely clandestine nature at a time when greater Community cooperation in the field of security is a constant subject of discussion1 Condemns the clandestine creation of manipulative and operational networks and Calls for a full investigation into the nature structure aims and all other aspects of these clandestine organizations or any splinter groups their use for illegal interference in the internal political affairs of the countries concerned the problem of terrorism in Europe and the possible collusion of the secret services of Member States or third countries2 Protests vigorously at the assumption by certain US military personnel at SHAPE and in NATO of the right to encourage the establishment in Europe of a clandestine intelligence and operation network3 Calls on the governments of the Member States to dismantle all clandestine military and paramilitary networks

4 Calls on the judiciaries of the countries in which the presence of such military organizations has been ascertained to elucidate fully their composition and modus operandi and to clarify any action they may have taken to destabilize the democratic structure of the Member States5 Requests all the Member States to take the necessary measures if necessary by establishing parliamentary committees of inquiry to draw up a complete list of organizations active in this field and at the same time to monitor their links with the respective state intelligence services and their links if any with terrorist action groups andor other illegal practices6 Calls on the Council of Ministers to provide full information on the activities of these secret intelligence and operational services7 Calls on its competent committee to consider holding a hearing in order to clarify the role and impact of the Gladio organization and any similar bodies8 Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission the Council the Secretary-General of NATO the governments of the Member States and the United States Government

Who said What about Ergenekon CaseldquoI am convinced that those men really did want to kill me In my eyes there is absolutely no reason that would somehow lessen the enormity of what they were planning I was definitely

convinced from the Ergenekon allegations that in fact some murderers including unfortunately some retired military officials and mafia types had organized and were in fact

planning on killing me And so I look at those who are trying to portray the Ergenekon crimes as less than they really are with the same eye -- I am ashamed for themrdquo

Orhan Pamuk Nobel Prize-Winner Novelist7 September 2008

ldquoTo get to the bottom of the conspiracy it is essential that the Istanbul court fully

investigate the allegations of military involvement in coup plots including those in the Oumlrnek diaries and probe possible connections between alleged coup-plotters and the Ergenekon

gangrdquoHuman Rights Watch

17 October 2008

ldquoThe trial which began in October 2008 presents an opportunity to finally shed light upon the backroom dealers responsible for political murders and decades of terror in the name of

staterdquoEuropean Parliaments Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union

19 March 2009

ldquoIf these detentions mean that justice will be implemented even into lsquothe deepest statersquo then itrsquos excellent news Now it is too early to comprehend what exactly is going on

however if this means that generals who were hitherto accepted as lsquoimmunersquo will also be responsible to the court then it is an encouraging signrdquo

Andrew Duff Vice chairman of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee

3 July 2008

ldquoWe have to look at the issue from two angles When we look from the angle of the rule of law if these people do really want to topple a party via coup then they should be tried and imprisoned if they are found guilty Every country which wants to enter the EU has to take

its military under civilian control No EU country can tolerate the understanding of lsquostate within the state The second angle is the fact that political conflict in Turkey is gradually becoming dangerous Here I have hesitations We are worried over where this affair will

lead to But in any case the EU will follow the developments in Turkey very closelyrdquoAlexander Graf Lambsdorff

Rapporteur for Turkey in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)3 July 2008

ldquoOf course we are concerned when journalists are detained We are expecting an explanation on this issue However in regard to the Ergenekon gang it is extremely positive

that prosecutors have moved and dealt actively with those who are involved in illegal activities We applaud deepening of the Ergenekon investigation But I also have to

emphasize that all kinds of judicial investigations should be carried out independentlyrdquoJan Marinus Wiersma

Vice Chairman of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the European Parliament3 July 2008

ldquoEU is pleased that Turkish prosecutors are digging up some dirt which would not have happened 10 years ago This indicates the progress Turkey has made Besides it is an

opportunity for Turkey to show that it is a country of the rule of lawrdquoJan Marinus Wiersma

Vice Chairman of the Party of European Socialists (PES) in the European Parliament12 April 2009

ldquoI remember the Susurluk debate Şemdinli could be mentioned too I really hope that this finally leads to results that people find out who did what in the past and who is involved in such kinds of things that are beyond democracy and that cannot be justified And it should

be very clear that a coup detat is under no conditions acceptable in a democracy That however does not mean that the activities of the government justify everything It has to be

based on democratic rule of law and the constitutionrdquoCem Oumlzdemir

Co-Chairman of the German Green Party11 July 2008

ldquoThe European Parliament welcomes the beginning of the trial against those accused of being members of the Ergenekon criminal organisation encourages the authorities to

continue investigations and to fully uncover the organisations networks which reach into the state structures is concerned about reports regarding the treatment of defendants in this

case urges the Turkish authorities to provide them with a fair trial and to adhere strictly to the principles of the rule of lawrdquo

Turkeyrsquos 2008 Progress Report Draft21 November 2008

ldquoThere have always been rumors about the deep staterdquo (when asked about the waves of detention of more than 100 people accused of being members of Ergenekon) ldquoThese

prosecutors are heroesrdquo ldquoThe process is dangerous since it can have an earthquake effect

But it is also very healthyrdquo (when reminded that some believe the investigation is linked to the closure case and claim it is an attempt to silence the critics of the government)

ldquoWhenever there is a good development somehow it is seen as a trick of the AKPrdquo (adding that again it was up to the civil society to oversee the process)

Claudia RothChairwoman of the German Green Party

25 July 2008

ldquoWell first I think those events (Ergenekon) were very serious and they have to be taken as they are I mean very seriously Of course the process of trial and investigation should

be done correctly Those sorts of activities that go against the established democracy have to be investigated and if proven they need to be punished We will support it if it is done in

the correct manner No doubt about thatIt is an opportunity to make clear the truth of events As I said they were very serious

events To revolt against a constitutional government is something that has to be punished I hope very much that truth comes out of the investigation by the appropriate handling of

this caserdquoJavier Solana

Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union04 April 2009

ldquoErgenekon is the cleansing of Turkeys dirty past but please play it by the rules and the book If you dont it will turn against you and all the attention will go to the proceduresrdquo

Joost LagendijkFormer Co-Chairman of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission

28 February 2009

ldquoThough the CHP is our sister party we do not share the same ideas with Mr Baykal on the Ergenekon affair We want this issue to be enlightened fully We believe the Ergenekon case is a very serious one for Turkish democracy The investigation should go until the very endrdquo

Maria Eleni KoppaEU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Vice Chairman

08 January 2009

ldquoTo bring these kinds of networks to light is difficult for every country where does the deep state start and where do its extensions reach In my opinion by having the judiciary

investigate these questions Turkey is doing the right thing The completion of this process will be a further step on the way to Turkeys modernizationrdquo

Graham Watson

Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament

22 January 2009

ldquoTurkish Gladio was unique Turkey was on the Gladio coordination committee but it was not on the political committee The Turkish organization had a more independent structure I

can assure you that Turkey always held a special place Turkey never allowed NATO to interfere in its internal affairs I have no evidence but it seems that Turkish army maintained

the Gladio structure in order to preserve the secular systemrdquoFrancesca Cossiga

Former President of Italy

17 February 2009

ldquoYou must go to the end in the investigation There are such significant accusations that you have to go to the end to clarify things Otherwise this is so dangerous for democracyrdquo

Felice CassonProsecutor of Gladio case in Italy

28 April 2008

ldquoIn July the indictment was issued in a groundbreaking prosecution against an alleged ultranationalist network Ergenekon with links to state institutionsrdquo

Amnesty International Report 2009

Ergenekon Case should keep on touching untouchable elitists having been fed by militarism so far which is suitable for the matter of its indictment and should not focus on wrong channels by diverging from its target HRRA endeavours to remind that the political

murders has suddenly stopped with the start of Ergenekon Case however it is tried to start again by some impudent surroundings by creating many diverse excuses Nevertheless

Ergenekon Case should keep away from the actual knowledge pollution and should focus on its own matter which is being too much expanded

Human Rights Agenda Association (HRRA)Press Release (Ergenekon Case Democracy and Human Rights)

15 April 2009

ERGENEKON CASE

The Clandestine Paramilitary Organization

Biggest threat to the democracy in Turkey and to the US-Turkish Relations

Ergenekon is the name given to a clandestine ultra-nationalist organization in Turkey with ties to members of the countrys military and security forces The group is accused of terrorism in Turkey Its agenda has variously been described as Anti-Americanist anti-EU and isolationist

Over a hundred people including several generals party officials and a former secretary general of the National Security Council have been detained or questioned since July 2008 Hearings began on 20 October 2008 and are expected to continue for over a year Commentators in the Turkish press have called Ergenekon the case of the century According to the indictment of the trial against the organization the groups claim to legitimacy is that it allegedly protects national interests which the defendants believe are incompatible with the rule of the democratically elected government and are harmed by Turkeys alleged concessions to the United States and European Countries in short West In Turkey the extensions of the statemdashthe establishmentmdashthat are considered responsible for this are referred to as the deep state

Members have been indicted on charges of plotting to foment unrest among other things by assassinating intellectuals politicians judges military staff and religious leaders with the ultimate goal of toppling the incumbent government in a coup that was planned to take place in 2009 This follows allegations published in a news magazine Nokta that several abortive coups with the same intent were planned a few years ago The proximate motive behind these false flag activities is said to be to discredit the incumbent ruling party and derail Turkeys accession process to the European Union Several months after revealing the coup the magazine was closed because of the military pressure In addition through the judiciary system the clandestine organization is trying to expand the pressure on the media with regard to the court case and trying to have journalists report against the case Now around 4000 journalists are facing trials or investigations due to their reports on the Ergenekon case

Turkey has already been through four (4)successful military coups since democratic elections were first held in 1950 At the first coup deacutetat in 1960 the junta executed the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the country Adnan Menderes and two of his ministers There were more coups in 1971 in 1980 and in 1997 with additional numerous attempted un-successful coups all through these years

Ergenekons modus operandi has been compared to Operation Gladios Turkish branch the Counter-Guerrilla It has been said that the people who constitute the deep state are members of or make use of this covert organization which was established at the beginning of the Cold War to contain communism

Executive Summary








Caliphate

































(Indictment p 2156)








Who is Dugin


















a Operation Draft


























(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

Executive Summary








Caliphate

































(Indictment p 2156)








Who is Dugin


















a Operation Draft


























(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

































(Indictment p 2156)








Who is Dugin


















a Operation Draft


























(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009








Who is Dugin


















a Operation Draft


























(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

















a Operation Draft


























(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

















(d) Stage of Action



AGOS Newspaper













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009













Allegations


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009


Militant links



















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009


















Munitions






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009






















Ergenekon arrests



























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

























17 October 2008



19 March 2009




3 July 2008

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

























25 July 2008









28 February 2009



08 January 2009



Graham Watson


22 January 2009





17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009

17 February 2009



28 April 2008







15 April 2009