Turkish army says helping with Ergenekon probe, slams procedure
The Turkish army is helping state prosecutors in the Ergenekon probe, but said the basic principles of law have been violated during the investigation process, a military spokesman said on Friday.
The acid wells of Ergenekon by Bejan MATUR
Turkey is signaling that it is becoming a country that is finally questioning its dark side and is finding the courage to clean out its underground vaults. The television screens show bulldozers with shovels digging into the dirt to unearth the crimes deep down below.
Did the last Ergenekon operation just save us from a military coup? by EMRE USLU & ÖNDER AYTAÇ
A former acting head of the police special operations unit, İbrahim Şahin, who was previously sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in the Susurluk gang and recently arrested as part of the Ergenekon investigation, claimed in his initial testimony that "he was assigned by 7th Army Commander Gen. Bekir Kalyoncu, currently on active duty, to set up a team of 300 officers to be employed in a new counterterrorism department," according to a report in Today’s Zaman on Tuesday.
The meaning of Ergenekon and elections
These are the most significant days since the military coup of 1960. Turkey emerged in a chaotic period of restructuring in the aftermath of World War I and the regime was consolidated in the period when fascism was influential in Europe.
‘Ergenekonism’ in Turkish politics
"Foreign media simplifies labyrinthic Ergenekon as a way out" said a headline on the front page of Today’s Zaman yesterday. A rather sharp observation, I would say.
Those who talk, those who keep silent, and those who are busybodies
Susurluk or Ergenekon? Or both? What did we have in the Susurluk case? An outlaw, a police chief and a deputy in a car that crashed into a truck. The car’s trunk was full of weapons.
Those ‘respectable’ people of Ergenekon
Following the latest wave of arrests in the ongoing Ergenekon investigation, there is something that people have been saying about some of the better-known names who have been detained by the police: “What connection could there be between these respectable people and the dirty actions that swirl around Ergenekon?
As the digging goes on, boundaries to change
As the Ergenekon operation continues, the weapons that are erupting from the ground in the ongoing digging are beginning to surprise even those who were unwilling to believe in the Ergenekon terror organization.
Ergenekon critics’ efforts to side with military likely to fail
Despite the discovery of caches of arms based on maps found in the houses of terrorist suspects in Ankara, some critics, led by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and certain media organs, of the investigation into Ergenekon, a shadowy criminal network suspected of plotting to topple the government, are putting up a fierce battle to minimize the importance of the terrorist organization.
Political results from Ergenekon
A definite political result of Ergenekon up until now has been a widened gulf between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and Turkey’s liberal factions.
No longer easy for critics to defend Ergenekon
After the discovery of a second cache of weapons, bombs and bullets linked to the Ergenekon terrorist organization in Ankara earlier this week, some circles who were previously downplaying the allegations against the organization have had to tone down their criticism about the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon.
EU ministers demand clarification on Ergenekon from Turkish FM
Pristina, KOSOVA – EU ministers demanded information on the Ergenekon probe from their Turkish counterpart after the number of the detainments increased recently in the country’s controversial investigation.
Turkish state TV comes under fire over Ergenekon suspect interview
ANKARA – Three members of the media watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, or RTÜK, issued a written statement criticizing TRT for its Wednesday night broadcast that they say would not even have been broadcast by some small, marginal, private channels.
Fugitive latest catch in Ergenekon net
ANKARA – One of the key suspects of the controversial Ergenekon case, retired Brig. Gen. Levent Ersöz, who fled to Moscow when he learned he was wanted, was apprehended at an Ankara hospital yesterday.
Probe of secularists raises heat in Turkey
The latest wave of arrests of suspected members of ‘Ergenekon’, a mysterious organisation close to the secularist military establishment, brought new tension to Turkey amid Greek protests over violations by its neighbour of Aegean airspace. EurActiv Turkey reports.
Ertugrul Ozkok: Living in the empire of fear in Turkey
My belief that "women are bolder than men" has been confirmed once again.
Ex-PM says illegality in 90s created Ergenekon
ANKARA – A former prime minister has admitted that Turkey used illegal methods in its fight against terrorism during the 1990s and that today’s Ergenekon investigation could be seen as a consequence of those actions.
Circle of 13: Ergenekon: The Turkish Gladio?
"Ergenekon: The Turkish Gladio?
Ihsan Bal writes in the Journal of Turkish Weekly:
The Ergenekon investigation faces severe criticism with the point it reached today regarding the excessive time it takes to prepare the indictment as well as the applicability of the judicial procedures. It is clear that the criticism will enable a better functioning investigation process; however it is ultimately dangerous when the criticisms overshadow the process and the successes of the operations and the investigation, especially, claiming that the operations are purely political, as the government is using them to clear the opposition. The Susurluk investigation was not successfully completed for many of the same reasons.
Apparent consensus among Turkey’s political party leaders in the Ergenekon case
Investigation Deepens Divisions Within Turkey
Lale Sarıibrahimoglu
As Turkish police have been uncovering arms and ammunition buried deep beneath the ground in various places in Ankara, divisions within the Turkish political scene, the judiciary, and the intelligence services, as well as the politically powerful Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), have widened. The caches were discovered by examining sketches found in the houses of some suspects arrested in simultaneous raids in six cities on January 7 as part of the investigation of the Ergenekon network."