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The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of
Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.
, a suspected secularist clandestine organization, were accused of plotting against the Turkish government. The trials resulted in lengthy prison sentences for the majority of the accused. Those sentences were overturned shortly after. Since Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 (tr: ''13. İstanbul Ağır Ceza Mahkemesi'') accepted the 2,455-page indictment against 86 defendants in the first case against alleged members of the supposed clandestine organization Ergenekon on 28 July 2008 a further 14 indictments were submitted up until February 2011.Ergenekon'da dava sayısı Masonlarla 15 oldu
Haber7.com of 6 February 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2011
Until the fourth indictment the number of defendants had increased to 531 and more than 8,000 pages of indictments had been written. Most trials were held in
Silivri Prison Marmara Prison ( tr, Marmara Cezaevi) or officially Marmara Penitentiaries Campus ( tr, Marmara Ceza İnfaz Kurumları Kampüsü) formerly Silivri Prison is a high-security state correctional institution complex in the Silivri district of Istan ...
. In June 2009, the prison's sport hall was converted for the term of the trial into a maxi courtroom with a capacity for 753 people. In April 2016, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's convictions because prosecutors had been unable to prove that Ergenekon actually existed and whatever evidence presented had been collected illegally.


The first indictment

The first hearing at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 was held on 20 October 2008.Details can be found in the annual report 2008 (in Turkish) of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT). The Democratic Turkey Forum has issued the reports in chapters including th
chapter on Ergenekon
Retrieved 17 May 2011
The main charges were: establishing, directing, and being a member of an armed terrorist organization; aiding and abetting a terrorist organization; attempting to overthrow the government through the use of force and coercion; acquiring, stocking, and using explosives; and urging others to commit crimes using explosives.Turkey – Guide to Ergenekon
An Open Source Center Report of 19 March 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011
The reading of the 2,455-page indictment lasted until 13 November 2008. In the 26th hearing on 15 December 2008 defendant one, retired General
Veli Küçük Veli Küçük (born 9 May 1944, Türkmen, Gölpazarı, Bilecik, TurkeyToday's Zaman, 16 June 2009Ultranationalist Ergenekon suspect is of Armenian origin, magazine reveals/ref>) is a retired Turkish brigadier-general. He is thought to be the fou ...
spoke for the first time and pleaded not guilty. In January and February 2009 four defendants were released including retired General
Hurşit Tolon Ahmet Hurşit Tolon (born 3 August 1942) is a retired Turkish general; he was Commander of the First Army of Turkey from 2004 to 2005. In August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment as part of the Ergenekon trials. He was prom ...
. One defendant, lawyer Kemal Kerinçsiz testified from hearing 66 to hearing 78 on 20 April 2009. On 30 January 2010 the defendants Dr. Emin Gürses, Dr. Ümit Sayın and Muhammet Yüce were released on pending trial. The hearing was adjourned to 22 February 2010. During the hearing of 7 December 2009 Dr. Ümit Sayın had said that he was a "
secret witness A secret witness (or anonymous witness) is a witness which is granted anonymity in a trial by the juridical authority. The identity of the witness is not disclosed to the defendant and the general public except the secret witness agrees to it. It i ...
" by the code name of "Anadolu". Subsequently, his lawyer declined to defend him any further. During the hearing of 2 December 2010 (hearing 165) the defendant Alparslan Arslan, charged for the 2006
Turkish Council of State shooting The Turkish Council of State shooting occurred on 17 May 2006. Alparslan Arslan entered the Council of State building in Ankara and shot five judges, killing judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin. Arslan was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008. Incid ...
, demanded to benefit from the law of repentance. Despite repeated demands of the presiding judge he did not reveal any details. On 9 December 2010 prime defendant, retired General Veli Küçük took the floor to complain that allegedly a diagram existed showing people in the organization above and below him. He claimed that persons such as former Chief of Staff
Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu (born Hüseyin Kıvrık, 1934) is a retired Turkish general who was the commander of the Turkish Armed Forces and on August 30, 1998, became Chief of the Turkish General Staff for a four-year term. Biography Born in Bo ...
, former Prime Minister
Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path P ...
and
Mehmet Ağar Mehmet Kemal Ağar (born on 30 October 1951) is a Turkish former police chief, politician, government minister and leader of the Democratic Party. He was a police officer who rose to General Director of the General Directorate of Security (effect ...
were among his "superiors". He asked that they be heard as witnesses.


Court cases merged with the first indictment

The cases merged with the first case against Ergenekon include: * a case called "Power Union of Patriotic Forces" (tr: '' Vatansever Kuvvetler Güç Birliği''). This trial is related to an operation called "Vortex" conducted on 8 July 2007. There are 14 defendants in this trial. The case was merged with the Ergenekon trial on 28 August 2009. * the 2006 attack on the Council of State and the bomb attack on the daily ''
Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pres ...
'', This cases (one of them conducted in Ankara) had been merged earlier. Nine defendants are on trial here. * Molotov cocktail attack on ''
Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: " Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Pres ...
'' in 2008. Here eight defendants, six of them in pre-trial detention are charged. * a case related to supply arms for the main defendant in the trial on the attack against judges at the Council of State, Alparslan Arslan has two defendants. In May 2011 a trial of a man accused of plotting to assassinate Greek Patriarch Bartholomew was merged with the first Ergenekon case. The case was taken from Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 9 and will continue at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The man accused in the assassination plot, Ismet Rençber, is facing a prison sentence of between 7.5 and 15 years on charges of "being a member of armed organization". As of early 2011 there were 119 defendants overall charged in the first case against Ergenekon.


The second indictment

With the 1,909-page second indictment another 56 defendants were charged at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. The main defendant was General
Şener Eruygur Mehmet Şener Eruygur (born 17 June 1941, in Erzurum) is a former Turkish general. He was General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey from 2002 to 2004, and was later head of the Atatürk Thought Association. Eruygur was one of those charge ...
. This case was later merged with a case against 52 defendants named in an indictment of 1,454 pages. The main charges include plotting a coup by forming a terrorist organization, plotting to restructure the civil administration and planning to wiretap illegally. The defendants include Ali Balkız,
Mehmet Haberal Mehmet Haberal (born 1944), is the founder of Başkent University in Ankara, Turkey, best known for becoming the first transplant surgeon in Turkey after leading the team that performed Turkey's first living-related kidney transplant in 1975, a ...
.
Tuncay Özkan Ahmet Tuncay Özkan (born 14 August 1966) is a Turkish journalist, writer and politician. He was arrested on September 27, 2008, in relation to the odatv case of the Ergenekon trials, and in August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life impri ...
and journalist
Mustafa Balbay Mustafa Ali Balbay (born August 8, 1960 in Burdur) is a journalist, writer and Turkish MP. As the main political correspondent in Ankara for the left-wing Kemalist daily newspaper ''Cumhuriyet'', he wrote a regular column called ''Gözlem'' whi ...
. The trial of Yusuf Erikel was merged with this trial on 4 February 2011. There are eight defendants including the lawyer Yusuf Erikel. The indictment has 150 pages The first hearing was held on 20 July 2009. The court merged the cases of indictments 2 and 3. Of the 52 defendants from indictment 3 37 were in pre-trial detention.The annual report 2009 (Turkish) of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT) can be foun
one the website of the HRFT
as pdf-file
In June 2010 defendant retired General Levent Ersöz read out his 350-page testimony via a video conference from the hospital of the medical faculty Cerrahpaşa. He pleaded not guilty.


The Poyrazköy case

Poyrazköy is the name of a village (village Poyraz, tr: ''Poyrazköy'') in
Beykoz Beykoz (), also known as Beicos and Beikos, is a district in Istanbul, Turkey at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name is believed to be a combination of the words bey and ''kos'', which means "village" in Farsi. Bey ...
district,
Istanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...
. It has become the name of one of several trials against alleged members of the clandestine organization
Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.
, allegedly planning to overthrow the government of the Justice and Development Party (Turkey), Justice and Development Party. Three court cases (indictments) were merged to form the "Poyrazköy case": a) the planned assassination of admirals, b) the cage action plan and c) the initial Poyrazköy trial. All three cases were initiated after the discovery in Poyrazköy of illegal arms. A coup plan, referred to as the 'cage plan', dated March 2009, was seized by investigators from Ergenekon suspects. The 'cage plan' allegedly aimed at destabilising the country by killing members of non-Muslim minorities.


The indictments

In January 2010 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 accepted the indictment against 17 people who are accused of storing munitions in Poyrazköy.Se
Hürriyet Daily News of 27 January 2010
Retrieved 14 May 2011
The indictment consists of 300 pages and 24 additional files. The first hearing was scheduled for 9 April 2010.See the archives o
Hürriyet (Turkish) of 27 January 2010
Retrieved 14 May 2011
The defendants were Tayfun Duman, Ergin Geldikaya, Levent Bektaş, Mustafa Turhan Ecevit, Ercan Kireçtepe, Eren Günay, Erme Onat, İbrahim Koray Özyurt, Şafak Yürekli, Muharrem Nuri Alacalı, Levent Görgeç, Mert Yanık, Dora Sungunay, Halil Cura, Sadettin Doğan, Ferudun Arslan and Ali Türkşen. The charges relate to possession of arms without permission, membership in an armed organization and the attempt to overthrow the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey The Grand National Assembly of Turkey ( tr, ), usually referred to simply as the TBMM or Parliament ( tr, or ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral Turkish legislature. It is the sole body given the legislative prerogatives by the Turkish Consti ...
. In February the same court accepted an indictment on allegations that 19 Navy personnel planned to assassinate Navy admirals.Se
Hürriyet Daily News of 5 February 2010
Retrieved 14 May 2011
The targeted admirals were named as current top Navy commander Admiral
Metin Ataç Metin Ataç (born 1946, İstanbul) is a Turkish Admiral. He was the 22nd Commander In Chief of the Turkish Navy, serving in that post from 24 August 2007 to 30 August 2009. Ataç was graduated as a junior ensign from the Naval Academy in 1965, fro ...
and former top Navy commander Admiral
Eşref Uğur Yiğit Eşref Uğur Yiğit (born 1945 in İstanbul) is a Turkish admiral. He was commander-in-chief of the Turkish Navy from 30 August 2009 to 29 July 2011. He is a holder of the Turkish Armed Forces Medal of Distinguished Service. In 2010, the Turkish ...
. The charges include being members of an armed terrorist organization, keeping explosive materials and bullets and illegally recording personal information. The assassination case's first trial was scheduled for 7 May 2010. The 166-page indictment listed as defendants: Faruk Akın, Sinan Efe Noyan, Alperen Erdoğan, Burak Düzalan, Yakut Aksoy, Tarık Ayabakan, Ülkü Öztürk, Ali Seyhur Güçlü, Sezgin Demirel, Fatih Göktaş, Burak Amaç, Burak Özkan, Yiğithan Göksu, Oğuz Dağnık, Koray Kemiksiz, Levent Çakın and Mehmet Orhan Yücel. The trial of 33 serving and retired Turkish military officers opened on 16 June 2010, with a first hearing at the Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12. The
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
newspaper ''
Agos ''Agos'' (in hy, Ակօս, "furrow") is an Armenian bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 5 April 1996. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an online English edition. Today, the paper h ...
'', one of the targets identified in the alleged plan, was accepted as an
intervenor In law, intervention is a procedure to allow a nonparty, called intervenor (also spelled intervener) to join ongoing litigation, either as a matter of right or at the discretion of the court, without the permission of the original litigants. The ...
. The 65-page indictment presented the imprisoned defendants Ahmet Feyyaz Öğütçü, Kadir Sağdıç and Mehmet Fatih İlgar as prime suspects in direct contact to the armed organization Ergenekon. The other defendants (not on pre-trial detention), Mücahit Erakyol, Deniz Erki, Tanju Veli Aydın, Emre Sezenler, Hüseyin Doğancı, İsmail Bak, Metin Samancı, Levent Gülmen, Aydın Ayhan Saraçoğlu, Bülent Aydın, Bora Coşkun, Süleyman Erharat, Murat Aslan, Emre Tepeli, İbrahim Öztürk, Halil Özsaraç, Gürol Yurdunal, Ümit Özbek, Bülent Karaoğlu, Daylan Muslu, Hüseyin Erol, Mehmet İnce, Alpay Belleyici, İsmail Zühtü Tümer, Levent Olcaner, Özgür Erken, Metin Fidan, Türker Doğanca, Mesut Adanur and Metin Keskin were accused of membership in an armed organization. The conspiracy plan entitled Operation Cage Action Plan ( Turkish: ''Kafes Operasyonu Eylem Planı'') was found on a CD seized in the office of retired Major Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April 2010. The document was published by
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 ...
newspaper in May 2010. An English translation of it exists. The plan allegedly calls for political terrorism and assassinations to be enacted against various groups of
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
,
Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
,
Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...
,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Alevis Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, ...
. The plan apparently originates from
secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
within the
Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chief ...
.


Hearings

The European Union declared that it was closely following developments related to the Naval Forces Command plan. On 9 April 2010 the first trial in the Porazköy case started. The judge at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 rejected applications from defense lawyers that the case be transferred to a military court.Hürriyet Daily News of 9 April 2010
Retrieved 14 May 2011
The prosecution is seeking life sentences for five defendants, up to 39 years for another, and up to 15 years for the other 11. In May 2010 the case relating to the arms found in Poyrazköy and the attempted assassination of two admirals were merged. The defendants Ülkü Öztürk, Ali Seyhur Güçlü and Sezgin Demirel were released. During the first hearing on the so-called "cage action plan" on 15 June 2010 the court rejected the demand to transfer the case to a military court. The case has a total of 33 suspects who are being charged with membership in an armed terrorist organization and could face prison sentences of between 7.5 years and 15 years if found guilty. In June 2010 the cases dealing with the "Cage" plan and the munitions found in Poyrazköy were merged. On 5 July 2010 the final three suspects under arrest in connection to the "Kafes" (Cage) Plan were released pending trial. On 11 April 2011 the 6th hearing was held in the Poyrazköy case that involves 69 defendants, seven of them in pre-trial detention. Defendant Faruk Akın stated that the admirals Metin Ataç and Uğur Yiğit (the potential victims of the planned assassination) had visited him in Hasdal Prison and expressed their sorrow on the case."Poyrazköy" Davasında Tahliye Talebi
TV station Kanal B of 12 April 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011
At the end of the hearing defendant Levent Bektaş was released pending trial.


Case 4: "Wet signature", Erzincan and the "Action Plan to Fight Reaction"

The name "wet signature" (tr: "''Islak İmza''") is known as indictment seven. Among the seven defendants are Bedrettin Dalan and Major Dursun Çiçek. The indictment has 165 pages. The nine-page document carrying the hand-written signature (wet signature) of Major Dursun Çiçek on each page was found in the office of lawyer Serdar Öztürk. It also is mentioned under the title "plan to intervene in democracy" (tr: ''Demokrasiye Müdahale Planı'') . In a letter to Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...
lawyer Öztürk alleged that the signatures had been faked by using technical methods. The trial of people from
Erzincan Erzincan (; ku, Erzîngan), historically Yerznka ( hy, Երզնկա), is the capital of Erzincan Province in Eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is ...
involves 23 defendants including General Saldıray Berk, once commander of the 3rd Army and Erzincan Chief Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner. The indictment consists of 61 pages. The indictment for the Erzincan group was presented to Erzurum Heavy Penal Court 2 on 26 February 2010. Excluding the attachments of 6 pages the 55-page strong indictment presents statements of 12 secret witnesses on 20 pages of it. The defendants allegedly tried to put the "action plan against
fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...
" (tr: ''İrtica ile Mücadele Eylem Planı'') into effect.The summarized description of the case is presented on th
website (WIKI) of Helmut Oberdiek
(German). Retrieved 17 May 2011
This plan found in an office of a lawyer pretended that reactionary (fundamentalist) groups accused members of the
Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...
to belong to Ergenekon and, therefore, had to be presented as criminal elements. The investigations had started after hand grenades and munition had been found close to Erzincan. Afterwards the defendants had tried to "hire" witnesses to testify that the police had placed the arms there. They had tried to find people to place arms in the home of a religious officer and a school of the
Gülen movement The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...
. Chief prosecutor İlhan Cihaner had threatened to kill the father of the person, if he did not as demanded. The first hearing at Erzurum Heavy Penal Court 2 was held on 4 May 2010. At the time 10 of the 16 defendants were in pre-trial detention. Since another case against prosecutor Cihaner was pending at the
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
for misuse of authority the files were sent there to decide which court should hear the case. On 18 May 2010 Penal Chamber 11 at the Court of Cassation heard the case and decided to release all 10 defendants. Since Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 also had demanded to take over the case the Assembly of Chamber at the Court of Cassation had to deal with the case. On 24 December 2010, the Assembly decided that the case related to misuse of authority should continue at Penal Chamber 11 at the Court of Cassation, but the Erzincan file should be sent back to the prosecutor in Erzurum, because he had initiated a case against a first-degree prosecutor without permission of the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...
. On 23 and 24 May 2011, Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 heard the testimony of a secret witness code-named "Efe" in the trial entitled "Wet Signature". The witness told the judges that high-profile but illegal meetings were held in Erzincan during which members of the military, businessmen and members of political parties discussed ongoing developments in Turkey. "The meetings were chaired by Cihaner. Cihaner gave orders for acts (of violence) that sought to foment chaos in society," the witness claimed. Efe, however, did not specify when the meetings took place. The hearing was adjourned to 26 May 2011. In August 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13 accepted another 92-page indictment against 22 defendants in a case entitled "Internet Memorandum" (tr: "''İnternet Andıcı''"). The Court issued orders to apprehend 14 defendants including the generals Nusret Taşdeler and Hıfzı Çubuklu and combined the case with the trial on the "action plan for fighting fundamentalism". The first hearing was scheduled for 12 September.Daily Radikal of 8 August 2011
Retrieved 10 August 2011
In April 2012 the trial called "Action Plan to Fight Reaction" was merged with the second Ergenekon trial raising the number of defendants to 147, 33 of them in pre-trial detention.


The "Internet memorandum"

On 22 July 2011 the investigations into the so-called "Internet Memorandum" (tr: "''İnternet Andıcı''") resulted in an indictment of prosecutor Cihan Kansız that he sent to Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 13. He demanded to combine this case with the "action plan to fight reaction". The 19 defendants include 14 officers on active duty, four retired officers (including former Chief of the General Staff
İlker Başbuğ Mehmet İlker Başbuğ (; born 29 April 1943) was the 26th Chief of the General Staff of Turkey. He was charged with contravention of Articles 309, 310, and 311 of the Turkish Penal Code. In August 2013, he was convicted on charges of "establish ...
and Commander of the First Army
Hasan Iğsız Hasan Iğsız (born 1946, Istanbul, Turkey) is a retired General in the Turkish Army. He was Commander of the First Army of Turkey from 2009 to 2010. He was formerly a defendant in the Internet Memorandum trial, where he was tried together with Tu ...
) and a civil servant. They were charged with the attempt to overthrow the government. On 8 August 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court issued arrest warrants against 14 defendants and decided to combine the "Internet Memorandum" case with the "action plan to fight reaction". The first hearing was scheduled for 12 September 2011. On that day the 32nd hearing was held in the "action plan to fight reaction" case. The number of defendants in the "Internet Memorandum" case had risen to 22. A secret witness with a disguised voice sitting in a separate room was heard. The defence pointed at various discrepancies of the testimony to the initial statements of this witness. The defendant Colonel Ziya İlker Göktaş had appeared in court and was arrested.


Case 5: ÇEV and ÇYDD

The case against board members of the Foundation for Contemporary Education (tr: ''Çağdaş Eğitim Vakfı'', ÇEV) and the Association for the Support of Contemporary Living (tr: ''Çağdaş Yaşamı Destekleme Derneği'' ÇYDD) started on 18 March 2011. The 342-page strong indictment lists eight defendants. Among the defendants are the former chair of ÇEV, Gülseven Yaşer and Ayşe Yüksel from the university in Van and chair of the Van Association for Support of Contemporary Life (ÇYDD). According to the indictment the premises of ÇEV und ÇYDD in Istanbul were searched on 13 April 2009. Several people were detained and material (mainly CDs and hard disks) were confiscated. Documents found allegedly prove the intention of the defendants to recruit new member for Ergenekon to oppose fundamentalist students. Chief defendant Gülseven Yaşer is accused to have forced students to participate in demonstration for Ergenekon and to have threatened to cancel their scholarship. The indictment alleges that 30 students supported by the foundation are members of terrorist organizations. Details on these 30 students can be found on pages 35 to 40 of the indictment. In the Turkish press the full names and the allegation that they set cars on fire can be found in many papers in Turkey. Such an allegation is made for three people. Two of them were charged with "acting in the name of an organization without being a member of it" and only one person was charged as offender and is imprisoned since 2006. On 17 December 2010 ÇEV released a press statement on these allegations. The new chair of ÇEV, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Altınel stated that since 1994 the foundation had provided scholarships for more than 20,000 students. Istanbul State Security Court 3 had dealt with the allegation that the foundation supported members of illegal organizations. In 2003 the Court had acquitted them and in 2004 the Court of Cassation had confirmed the acquittal. Relating to the accusation in the press that the gendarmerie was in possession of a report on the subject the foundation had opened a case for compensation and on 16 March 2010 Ankara Civil Court of First Instance 17 had ruled in favour of the demand. The gendarmerie had informed the court that no such report (or knowledge) existed. The fifth hearing at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 was held on 11 April 2012. It turned out that the prosecutor's office had forgotten to send four files of evidence to the court. The defence asked for time to inspect the file and the prosecutor demanded that the case be combined with the Poyrazköy trial. The court decided to merge the cases. With the eight defendants in this cases the number of defendants in the Poyrazköy trial (case 3) has risen to 85 defendants, 11 of them in pre-trial detention.See the article in the daily Radikal of 11 April 201
ÇYDD Davası'nda inanılmaz 'unutkanlık'
(Unbelievable forgetfulness in the ÇYDD case). Retrieved 13 April 2012
Earlier the Poyrazköy trial had been merged with the cases called "cage action plan", "assassination of admirals" (1 and 2) and the second Poyrazköy case.


Case 6: Şile

At the beginning of March 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 accepted a 34-page indictment of prosecutor Cihan Kansız charging four defendants with membership of Ergenekon.Şili'deki Kazı Ergenekon'a Eklendi!
Daily Akış of 1 March 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011
The investigation related to the discovery of arms in August 2010. At places that the defendant Ulaş Özel had named arms such as a
Kalashnikov rifle A Kalashnikov (Калашников) rifle is any one of a series of automatic rifles based on the original design of Mikhail Kalashnikov. They are officially known in Russian as "Avtomát Kaláshnikova" ( rus, Автома́т Кала́шник ...
, several hand grenades and two
Glock pistol Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...
s had been found. According to the indictment Ulaş Özel had been a member of TİKKO, the armed wing of the
Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (''Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist'' in Turkish language, Turkish, abbreviated as TKP/ML) is a Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Marxist–Leninist–Maoist insurgent organization in Turke ...
. He had become a repentant and become active for
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 ...
. The defendants allegedly were in contact to leading members of Ergenekon. The defendant Hüseyin Yanç reportedly was a member of Kongra-Gel, before he joined JİTEM. Defendant Okan İşgör is said to have been active for the radical Islamic organization İBDA-C. On 20 July 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 12 held the first hearing in this case. Defendant Ulaş Özel stated that he had been active for the Command of
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
Elazığ Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . El ...
region after he became a repentant. For three to four months he had been taken from prison to operations and they had received money for each person they killed. During the operations he had participated in 35 members of TİKKO and 90 members of the PKK had been killed. Following the testimony of Ulaş Özel the court issued arrest warrants for Okan İşgör and repentant PKK militant Hüseyin Yanç. Suspended police officer Yusuf Ethem Akbulut is the only defendant not in pre-trial detention.The dail
Radikal of 26 July 2011
. Retrieved 26 July 2011
Okan İşgör stated that he had stayed in Metris Prison with members of İBDA-C for 18 months before 1999. Intelligence officers had visited him and he had provided a testimony of 400 pages. Repentant PKK member Hüseyin Yanç told the court that he had been visited by generals. One of them, Osman Eker was like a father to him.


Case 7: OdaTV

At the beginning of September 2011 Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16 accepted the 134-page indictment relating to 14 suspects, 12 of them in pre-trial detention.See th

Retrieved 13 September 2011
Most of the defendants are journalists, who were detained in February and March 2011. The charges concentrate on the Internet portal OdaTV, owned by
Soner Yalçın Soner Yalçın (born January 1, 1966) is a Turkish journalist and writer. The co-founder of the news website odatv, he was arrested in February 2011 along with other odatv journalists and charged with links to the Ergenekon organization. He was ...
. The indictment accuses the defendants to be either founders, leaders, members or supporters of the "armed terror organization Ergenekon", to have incited to hatred and enmity, to have obtained secret documents etc.
Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, '' The Imam's Army'', investigatin ...
and
Nedim Şener Nedim Şener (; born 28 November 1966 in Germany) is a Turkish writer and journalist who has written for the ''Milliyet'' (since 1994) and '' Posta'' newspapers. He has received a number of journalism awards, including the Turkish Journalists' As ...
, neither of whom worked for odatv, are charged with supporting Ergenekon Şık – because of his unpublished book ''
The Imam's Army ''The Imam's Army'' ( Turkish: ''İmamın Ordusu'') is a book by Turkish journalist Ahmet Şık on the life and work of Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen movement. Şık was detained in March 2011, before the book was published, and the draft book w ...
'', a copy of which was allegedly found on odatv computers. The first hearing was scheduled for 22 November 2011 to be held at Istanbul Heavy Penal Court 16 at the
Istanbul Justice Palace The Istanbul Justice Palace ( tr, İstanbul Adalet Sarayı) is a courthouse in the Şişli district of Istanbul, Turkey. Inaugurated in July 2011, it is the largest courthouse in Europe, with an area of over . It was built by the VARYAP construct ...
. Digital documents linking to the
Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.
conspiracy are the basis of the case against Barış Terkoğlu,
Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, '' The Imam's Army'', investigatin ...
,
Nedim Şener Nedim Şener (; born 28 November 1966 in Germany) is a Turkish writer and journalist who has written for the ''Milliyet'' (since 1994) and '' Posta'' newspapers. He has received a number of journalism awards, including the Turkish Journalists' As ...
and the other detainees in the OdaTV case. Examinations of the documents conducted by computer experts at
Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus, Bosphorus strait. It has six facult ...
,
Yıldız Technical University Yıldız Technical University ( Tr. ''Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi'', often simply referred to as YTU or Yıldız) is a prominent technical university dedicated to engineering and natural sciences as well as social sciences recently, and is one ...
,
Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, Turkey. The ...
and the American data processing company ''DataDevastation'' have refuted the validity of the documents and concluded that outside sources targeted the journalists' computers. Rare and malicious computer viruses, including Autorun-BJ and Win32:Malware-gen, allowed the placement of the documents to go unnoticed by the defendants. Another judicial report prepared by the governmental agency Tübitak also confirmed the infection by malicious viruses but couldn't neither confirm nor reject any outside intervention. A second report rejected the journalists' claims on the basis that the documents had been created before the computers were infected. Yet another review of the OdaTV evidence by digital forensics company Arsenal Consulting revealed that local attacks, which required physical access, were responsible for delivery of the incriminating documents to Barış Pehlivan's OdaTV computer. Others charged in the case include
Yalçın Küçük Yalçın Küçük (born 1938) is a Turkish socialist writer, economist, historian and media pundit, recognized for his historical studies on the late-Ottoman and Republican periods in the history of Turkey and Soviet economic development from a Ma ...
and Hanefi Avcı and Muhammet Sait Cakir, Coskun Musluk and Müyesser Ugur. Also
Mustafa Balbay Mustafa Ali Balbay (born August 8, 1960 in Burdur) is a journalist, writer and Turkish MP. As the main political correspondent in Ankara for the left-wing Kemalist daily newspaper ''Cumhuriyet'', he wrote a regular column called ''Gözlem'' whi ...
and
Tuncay Özkan Ahmet Tuncay Özkan (born 14 August 1966) is a Turkish journalist, writer and politician. He was arrested on September 27, 2008, in relation to the odatv case of the Ergenekon trials, and in August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life impri ...
.


Cases for reporting on Ergenekon

There have been a number of trials arising from reporting on Ergenekon, with journalists accused of "violating the confidentiality of the investigation" into
Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.
, or violating the judicial process of the Ergenekon trials (attempting to influence a trial). The
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
said in 2010 that the number of cases was "a cause for concern."Turkey 2010 Progress Report
of 9 November 2010. Retrieved 18 May 2011
Convictions for reporting include
Şamil Tayyar Şamil Tayyar (born 1 January 1965 in Gaziantep) is a Turkish journalist, author, and deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) since 2011. He is a columnist with the daily ''Star'' and has contributed to ''Yeni Şafak'', ''Milliyet'' ...
, for his book ''Operasyon Ergenekon'' (20 months' imprisonment, suspended for five years); and Ahmet Can Karahasanoğlu, editor-in-chief of '' Vakit'', sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. Acquittals include the news coordinator of the daily ''
Radikal ''Radikal'' () was a daily liberal Turkish language newspaper, published in Istanbul. From 1996 it was published by Aydın Doğan's Doğan Media Group. Although Radikal did not endorse a particular political alignment, it was generally considered ...
'', Ertuğrul Mavioğlu, and journalist
Ahmet Şık Ahmet Şık (; born 1970, Adana) is a Turkish investigative journalist, the author of several books, a trade unionist, and member of Parliament in Turkey.Details othis website; accessed on 11 April 2011 His book, '' The Imam's Army'', investigatin ...
, for a book entitled ''Kırk Katır, Kırk Satır''.


Verdicts

On 5 August 2013 verdicts were announced. General
Veli Küçük Veli Küçük (born 9 May 1944, Türkmen, Gölpazarı, Bilecik, TurkeyToday's Zaman, 16 June 2009Ultranationalist Ergenekon suspect is of Armenian origin, magazine reveals/ref>) is a retired Turkish brigadier-general. He is thought to be the fou ...
, Capt. Muzaffer Tekin and Council of State shooter Alparslan Arslan received consecutive life sentences, while
İlker Başbuğ Mehmet İlker Başbuğ (; born 29 April 1943) was the 26th Chief of the General Staff of Turkey. He was charged with contravention of Articles 309, 310, and 311 of the Turkish Penal Code. In August 2013, he was convicted on charges of "establish ...
,
Tuncay Özkan Ahmet Tuncay Özkan (born 14 August 1966) is a Turkish journalist, writer and politician. He was arrested on September 27, 2008, in relation to the odatv case of the Ergenekon trials, and in August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life impri ...
, Dursun Çiçek, Kemal Kerinçsiz,
Doğu Perinçek Doğu Perinçek (; born 17 June 1942) is a Turkish politician, doctor of law and former communist revolutionary who has been chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party ( tr, Vatan Partisi, VP) since 2015. He was also a member of the Ta ...
, Fuat Selvi, Hasan Ataman Yıldırım,
Hurşit Tolon Ahmet Hurşit Tolon (born 3 August 1942) is a retired Turkish general; he was Commander of the First Army of Turkey from 2004 to 2005. In August 2013 he was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment as part of the Ergenekon trials. He was prom ...
, Nusret Taşdeler,
Hasan Iğsız Hasan Iğsız (born 1946, Istanbul, Turkey) is a retired General in the Turkish Army. He was Commander of the First Army of Turkey from 2009 to 2010. He was formerly a defendant in the Internet Memorandum trial, where he was tried together with Tu ...
and
Şener Eruygur Mehmet Şener Eruygur (born 17 June 1941, in Erzurum) is a former Turkish general. He was General Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey from 2002 to 2004, and was later head of the Atatürk Thought Association. Eruygur was one of those charge ...
were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. Many others received lengthy sentences, including Arif Doğan (47 years),
Fikret Emek Fikret Emek (born 20 September 1963 in Emirdağ) is a retired soldier from the Special Forces Command ( tr, Özel Kuvvetler Komutanlığı, ÖKK); a special forces unit active in the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. He was one of the first people deta ...
(41 years) and Oktay Yıldırım (33 years). 21 of the 275 defendants were acquitted. In April 2016, all the verdicts in the case were annulled, pending a re-trial.


See also

* Sledgehammer (coup plan) * Sarıkız, Ayışığı, Yakamoz and Eldiven


References


External links


Summary of the first indictment in EnglishSummary of the second indictment in EnglishThe Lobby (Lobi) document in English
This booklet was found in the raids to the homes of several Ergenekon suspects. It is one of the basic documents used as evidence in the second indictment.
The Ergenekon Analysis (Analiz) document in English
This document, part of the second indictment, compromises the goals, tactics, member profiles, and financial sources of the alleged organization.
Turkey – Guide to Ergenekon
An Open Source Center Report of 19 March 2010
Special Issue: The Ergenekon Counter-Terrorism Investigation in Turkey: Representations and Implications
Middle East Critique, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2012

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