Documents clear evidence of Ergenekon’s existence

Suspects under arrest in the Ergenekon case, (L to R) Kemal Gürüz, Şener Eruygur, Hurşit Tolon, İlhan Selçuk, Mustafa Balbay and Tuncay Özkan, are depicted in this Sunday’s Zaman illustration. (Collage: Yunus Emre Hatunoğlu)

25 March 2013 /YAKUP ÇETİN, İSTANBUL

A large number of documents seized from the homes and offices of suspected members of Ergenekon stand as clear evidence of the existence of the terrorist organization.

The documents were prepared long before the launch of an investigation into Ergenekon, referred to as a terrorist group by the prosecution, and excerpts from those documents were included in the closing argument of a lead prosecutor involved in the investigation. The closing argument was presented at the İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court. According to the prosecutor, the documents prove the existence of Ergenekon and provide information as to the structure and activities of the terrorist group.

Ergenekon is a clandestine criminal network accused of working to overthrow the government. In the trial against Ergenekon, there are 275 defendants who face charges, 66 of whom have been jailed pending a verdict. Those accused of membership in the Ergenekon organization include politicians, academics, journalists and retired military officers.

The documents were seized from the homes and offices of several suspected Ergenekon members, who have denied knowing each other. The fact that the documents are identical in content and style refute claims by suspects that they do not know one another, according to Prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel.

One such document was retrieved from the homes and offices of journalist Tuncay Özkan and former Police Chief Adil Serdar Saçan. Titled “Afrodit,” the document states that JİTEM is run by Ergenekon. JİTEM is an illegal and clandestine network within the gendarmerie that was established to fight terrorism in the 1990s and which is believed to be responsible for thousands of murders and disappearances in the predominantly Kurdish east and southeast Turkey.

According to the document, JİTEM initially served under the Gendarmerie General Command’s Intelligence Department, and was later taken over by Ergenekon. “JİTEM was established by Veli Küçük, who was later promoted to general. Küçük also became the leader of the Ergenekon clandestine group,” according to the document.

Küçük, one of the prime suspects in the Ergenekon trial, was arrested and sent to jail in 2007. The prosecutor seeks six aggravated life sentences for the retired general.

Another document seized from the office of retired Col. Hüseyin Vural, titled “Ergenekon,” presents the oath of the terrorist group. According to the document, all members of the group are obliged to recite the oath, which states, “I hereby swear on my honor and my life that I will consider the interests of my country above all personal interests and that I will comply with the principles of the organization in order to destroy all elements that may prevent the rise of Turkey to the level of high civilizations.” The document states that the oath is taken in the presence of two other members of the organization and that copies of the oath were given to Ergenekon members who are officers in the land, air and naval forces of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

In earlier testimony to prosecutors involved in the Ergenekon investigation, Vural acknowledged that the document belongs to him. He also said he received the document from the late Air Forces Commander Gen. Siyami Taştan.

The existence of Ergenekon, a behind-the-scenes network attempting to use social and psychological engineering to shape the country in accordance with its own ultranationalist ideology, has long been suspected, but the investigation into the group did not begin until 2007, when police discovered a number of hand grenades in a house in İstanbul’s Ümraniye district.

Also in the prosecutor’s closing argument were two separate reports submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) in 2003 and 2006. In the reports, MİT tells the prime minister about Ergenekon.

In the reports, MİT refers to Ergenekon as a “military-origin organization that wishes to covertly seize control of the civilian will.” By using the phrase “military-origin,” MİT implies that military officers in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) run Ergenekon. According to the reports, a criminal group, using the name Ergenekon, sought to destroy the state and the regime in line with its own interests.