Around 40 detained in the latest wave of Ergenekon case in Turkey

Turkey's state-run Anatolian Agency (AA) said police raids had been conducted simultaneously in twelve provinces around the country.Â

 

The case, which divided Turkey, was filed against more than 80 people on the charge of forming an illegal organization to provoke a series of events that would pave the way for a military coup. However many believe the government use the Ergenekon case as an excuse to suppress its opposition.

 

Three retired generals, two academics, a journalist, and a colonel, still on active duty, are among those who were taken into custody. Lawyers of the detainees pointed the finger at the ruling AKP and pro-government media for the latest string of detainments.

 

Turkish police conducted a search of the home of the country's former chief prosecutor, Sabih Kanadoglu, as around 30 people were detained in the latest wave of the controversial Ergenekon case. Kanadoglu was not detained by police during their investigation, news agencies reported.

 

DETAINEES

Tuncer Kilinc, the former General-Secretary of the National Security Council (MGK), has also been detained in the operation. Kilinc was a member of the MGK during the military's intervention into rising political Islam Turkish politics in 1997.

 

The so-called "February 28 Process" was started with a meeting of the MGK in which the army harshly warned the government formed by Islamist Welfare Party and the center-right True Path Party (DYP), an event referred to as a soft or post-modern coup.

 

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has its roots in the banned Welfare Party.

 

Kilinc came under spotlight both during and after his term, and has been vocal in saying that the country could see a new "February 28 Processes" if the rise of political Islam continues.

 

AA also said police conducted searches on four homes in Ankara, including those of retired Major General Erdal Senel and Ibrahim Sahin, the former head of the Special Operations Unit, which was formed in the fight against terror. The owners of the four properties were taken into custody after completion of the searches.

 

In the central province of Sivas eleven people were taken into custody and two grenades were discovered during conducted at the offices and homes of those detained.

 

The former president of the Higher Education Board, Prof. Kemal Guruz, was also taken into custody after a search conducted his home.

 

OTHER DETAINEES

A known anti-government journalist and writer, Prof. Yalcin Kucuk, was detained under the operation and his home searched, reports say. Kucuk's lawyer confirmed that his client has been detained and that a search was conducted on his property as part the so-called Ergenekon case.

 

"They seized all my client’s CDs, books and documents from his home," Levent Gok told reporters.

 

Such repressive moves against writers would harm democracy in Turkey, he added.

 

"AKP-supporter media's 7-month long campaign led to this outcome," Dursun Ermis, another lawyer for Kucuk told reporters as his client was taken into custody by police.

 

Police also conducted a raid on the Istanbul Educational and Cultural Foundation (ISTEK), owned by Istanbul's former mayor, Bedrettin Dalan. ISTEK owns a university and numerous private high schools. Searches were conducted at the foundation's headquarters and at Yeditepe University in Istanbul.

 

 

 

* Photo is an archives image.