I could not follow the Ergenekon case properly last week. You can find a weekly round up below. There appeared a pattern for those arrested in the case. They are hospitalized and then are transferred to the grand military hospital in Ankara, GATA(but it has other branches in other towns, too) There, it is decided that these people are sick and they they are released. So there appeared a suspicious situation in relation to this hospital. There also appeared some tapped recordings that supported this situation. But i did not follow it properly, i won’t have much to say.
Old state-new state
What is it that the Ergenekon-supporting old state really wants? To foster some sort of national, civil dependence and to see that the citizens remain enslaved.
Who can answer these questions?
Judging from the information, documents and public statements released in days past, efforts by the Turkish military to ensure that their tutelage over the “system” remains permanent are not over.
The media and the end of an era of impunity
These days we are seeing the tragic fact that the defendants, particularly retired top brass, in the trial against the Ergenekon terrorist organization are being released from prison through scandalous transfers to the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) and equally scandalous decisions by certain courts.
Pro-Ergenekon actors and the barracks door
We are witnessing an interesting controversy over Ergenekon. In other words, some actors fear the fulfillment of justice. They say “justice,” but they are not discomfited by the controversies surrounding the judiciary and the bar associations in the Ergenekon case. They say “democracy,” but they oppose efforts for further democratization. They were outraged with Susurluk, but they resist the Ergenekon investigation. This is the case with the media, bar associations, the judiciary and the military. We are dealing with a national resistance coalition against Ergenekon. Why is that?
Independence of judiciary under suspicion in Turkey
The fact that the wife of retired Gen. Şener Eruygur, a suspect in the ongoing trial against Ergenekon, a clandestine terrorist organization charged with attempting to create chaos and undermine stability in order to trigger a coup, has admitted that a voice on a recording that insinuates that two İstanbul courts favor Ergenekon suspects belongs to her has astonished everyone in Turkey who believes in the supremacy of the law.
‘The state’s black box’
Exactly 12 years have passed since then. After 12 years of playing cat and mouse with the justice system, Mehmet Ağar has finally appeared before a court. The nickname given to him — "the state’s black box" — is one left over from the days of Susurluk.
Ergenekon appears to be going nowhere
When an İstanbul court last summer decided to put on trial those accused of serious crimes, such as setting up an armed group to overthrow the government, there was relief among democratic-minded Turks, who hoped that this would mark the beginning of a new era in which illegal acts committed over the decades with support from state elements would come to light.
Is it possible to hide Ergenekon anymore?
There have been a number of breaking news stories in Turkey recently that should really be reported by regular media. Let me give you a sample of such reports from last week:
Former State Minister Adnan Ekmen, who served on the Çiller-led government in which Deniz Baykal was deputy prime minister, said in a statement: "The PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] is not responsible for the killing of 11 villagers in Şırnak 13 years ago. The file on this incident was not even included in the Ergenekon investigation. I would like to make a deposition with regard to this incident."
Turkey and the army Conspiracy theoriesThe arrest of still more suspects in the Ergenekon case is raising new questions about the relationship between the army and the government
The Turkish military’s biggest enemy
The chief of general staff recently issued a very strong statement accusing certain circles of trying to weaken the military. The generals are right. There are groups and individuals that are undermining the credibility of the Turkish military. A prophetic tradition (hadith) teaches, "Your biggest enemy is yourself [your ego, or nafs]." It is high time that the military seriously ask itself whether it has become its own biggest enemy.
General freed on lack of evidence in Ergenekon
Trial or witch hunt? Ergenekon plot thickens | GlobalPost
Barack Obama’s seven problems and Turkey
The incredible dimensions of the Ergenekon case, and the inevitable public focus on the case, have in some sense managed to push the global financial crisis into the background.
‘Ergenekon investigation to strengthen Turkish democracy’
Pierre Lellouche, a member of the French Parliament from the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), has said that he believes the Ergenekon case will strengthen Turkey’s democracy and disagrees with claims that Turkey is moving away from the West.
The case of Karamehmet vs. the public
The panorama is of a swamp. The leaks and revelations of secret meetings, deals, threats, "carrots," orders and "polite" demands all tell us of a Turkey, sunk in political filth, in which the media has been a key player in a game of keeping democracy at a "safe distance."
Meaning of assigning new prosecutors to Ergenekon trial
On Tuesday the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) assigned three new prosecutors to the İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office to handle the Ergenekon case, an investigation into a clandestine terrorist organization charged with various crimes staged for the ultimate purpose of triggering a military coup, in a move that was met with skepticism by judicial and political circles.
Elections, Ergenekon and the EU
As the local elections draw nearer, the critical importance of the Ergenekon case grows even more. We understand this from the fact that former chiefs of general staff have started to make statements about the ongoing Ergenekon investigation.
More Ergenekon than Ergenekon
Just because it’s in Wikipedia doesn’t mean it’s true. The entry for the murdered Turkish businessman Üzeyir Garih refers to the widely reported “fact” (indeed, Wikipedia cites this newspaper as a source) that the crime was one of the more obscure wrinkles of the Ergenekon conspiracy.
How to be an Americanist
In one of the latest developments in the Ergenekon investigation, remarks made by the former head of the Higher Education Board (YÖK), Dr. Kemal Gürüz, reveal the extent to which the position he and other Ergenekon suspects hold is inconsistent, contradictory and unreliable.
L’affaire Ergenekon continue de secouer la Turquie
Le Monde (France), 27 janvier 2009, p. 7
Guillaume Perrier
La justice a lancé un nouveau coup de filet contre des policiers et des militaires soupçonnés d’avoir voulu déstabiliser l’Etat
La nouvelle série d’arrestations lancée entre le 22 et le 25 janvier par la justice turque, la onzième depuis le début de l’affaire en 2007, a encore élargi la liste des suspects d’une quarantaine de noms. L’enquête sur le réseau Ergenekon, une nébuleuse nationaliste soupçonnée d’avoir tenté de renverser le gouvernement en organisant attentats et assassinats, n’en finit plus de s’étendre.
La dernière série d’arrestations visait essentiellement des policiers et des militaires. Dix-sept d’entre eux ont été mis en examen et écroués dimanche, à Istanbul. La plupart sont des officiers d’unités spéciales en poste dans les régions à majorité kurde de l’est de la Turquie. Tous seraient liés à Ibrahim Sahin, un ancien chef des opérations spéciales de la police, arrêté début janvier.
How likely is, a partition of Turkey? by Cenap Çakmak
That the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been relying on terrorist acts for the last three decades to fulfill its political goals, will not be able to achieve these goals is expressed by a heroic discourse that mostly points to optimism.
Echos of the north of Ireland: At last a beam of light is shined down into Turkey’s ‘Deep State’ sewers. (Part One.)
Ergenekon part two: The left and Internet come into the Equation
One of the more disturbing pieces of information to come to light about Ergenekon, the deep State organization, is how its tentacles reached into all walks of Turkish life. The more traditional areas such as the military, police and security service were only to be expected, but the arrest of senior academics has shaken academia. Now it is the turn of the world wide web and left political parties to enter the picture.
Ergenekon and the ‘deep state’
The curious case of Ergenekon is unfolding, dividing public opinion as to whether this is a serious affair that will end with a thorough cleansing of the Turkish political-administrative system, or a tactical move on the part of the incumbent Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government to eliminate its opponents.
Tolon’s release from prison
Retired Gen. Hurşit Tolon was released from prison. With there being no risk of flight or possibility that he would try to destroy evidence, trying him while he is free to come and go as he pleases is quite natural. For people who are of a certain age, it is quite risky to be put in prison for a long period of time before there is even any sentencing.