İlhan Cihaner (born 23 February 1968,

Kağızman Kağızman ( ku, Qaxizman), formerly Kaghzvan (), is a town and district of Kars Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The population was 23,100 in 2012. The current mayor is Nevzat Yıldız ( MHP), and the Kaymakam is İshak Çınar ...

), is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

politician and a former prosecutor. He's a parliamentary deputy for the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP) since 2011. He was the Chief Public Prosecutor of Erzincan from 2007; he resigned in 2011 in order to stand for election. He is a suspect in the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...

. He is a columnist for the ''

soL Sol or SOL may refer to: Astronomy * The Sun Currency * SOL Project, a currency project in France * French sol, or sou * Argentine sol * Bolivian sol, the currency of Bolivia from 1827 to 1864 * Peruvian sol, introduced in 1991 * Peruvian sol ( ...

'' newspaper.

Career

Cihaner, then a prosecutor in

İdil İdil ( syr, ܐܙܟ, Azakh, or ''Beth Zabday'', ku, Hezex, ar, آزخ, Azekh) is a city and district in Şırnak Province in southeastern Turkey. It is located in the historical region of Tur Abdin. In the city, there is a Syriac Orthodox C ...

( Şırnak Province), was the first prosecutor to point at the Turkish Gendarmerie's

JİTEM Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele or Jandarma İstihbarat Teşkilatı (abbr. ''JİTEM'' or ''JİT''; English: "Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism" or "Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization") is the unofficial and illegal intel ...

, in an indictment of 1997. He held the defendants including civil servants, confessors and others responsible for killings, bombings and "disappearances". Defendant No. 1 was Ahmet Cem Ersever and defendant No. 2 was

Arif Doğan Arif Doğan (born Kırıkhan, Hatay Province, 1945 – 17 October 2014) was a commander in the Turkish Gendarmerie, and said to be one of the founders of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit. He was a defendant in the Ergenekon trials, and in ...

. He was appointed Chief Public Prosecutor of Erzincan in 2007. In this position he ordered an investigation of the

İsmailağa İsmailağa Jamia or İsmail Ağa Jamia ( tr, İsmailağa Cemaati) is a branch of ''the Gümüşhanevî Dergâh of Nakşibendi- Khālidī Ṭarīqah'' ( Sufi Order) in Turkey. It takes its name from the İsmailağa Mosque in Fatih, Istan ...

and Fettullah Gülen religious communities. Some months later, ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circulati ...

'' published a plan entitled "Action Plan against Religious Radicalism", an alleged plan to discredit religious communities and the AKP government by planting weapons. A Justice Ministry investigation followed, and the İsmailağa case was transferred to another prosecutor, Osman Şanal, on the grounds that there were allegations that İsmailağa was a terrorist group. Osman Sanal wire tapped the Chief Public Prosecutor, Ilhan Cihaner The same year,(November 2010)Osman Sanal litigated newspaper reporter İlhan Taşçı about his book on Ismailaga religious society. Osman Sanal was arrested and charged as a member of Fettulah Terrorist Organization (FETO)who were attempted coup in 2016.

Charges

Cihaner was arrested in February 2010 as part of the Ergenekon trials investigation, and charged with membership of “Ergenekon” organization. Court ordered release of Ilhan Cihaner during his trial in August 2010. 'He was appointed a public prosecutor in

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

in November 2010. Cihaner was found not guilty in conspiracy cases which were conducted by the members of Gulenist's prosecutors who were fled from Turkey

Political views

Cihaner is self-described as a

and social democrat, while he and his caucus within the party, Us for Future ''(Gelecek için Biz)'', stand for more radical left-wing values that includes democratic and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

sentiments. He opposes

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

Imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

, militarism, Interventionism, and supports left-populist values such as race and gender equality, withdrawal of troops from foreign countries and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

References

External links

Cihaner's columns at soL

Interview with Mr. İlhan Cihaner: “The Political Landscape, Problem of Justice, and Media Ethics in Turkey”
researchturkey.org, 21 May 2012 * https://twitter.com/ilhancihaner {{DEFAULTSORT:Cihaner, Ilhan 1968 births Living people Turkish prosecutors People from Kağızman Deputies of Denizli Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey