Ergenekon net catches 39 more

The latest Ergenekon wave swept up 39 people yesterday morning, 20 of who were police and military officers. The 39 are alleged to be part of assassination teams directed by İbrahim Şahin, an ex-police officer currently under arrest as part of the Ergenekon case.

Police also raided the Metal Workers’ Union headquarters and the Eurasia TV, or ART, in Ankara. The union’s president Mustafa Özbek, VERSO Survey company’s owner Erhan Göksel, and senior journalist Ünal İnanç were also rounded up.

Police demanded the keys for locked rooms in the union building and the building’s plans. Another raid was conducted on the Şirinoğlu Social and Strategic Research Center, presided over by İnanç. Türkmeneli Human Rights Association Head Savaş Avcı was also taken into custody. ART, a channel with an anti-Justice and Development Party, or AKP, stance and with nationalist leanings, resumed broadcasting from Cyprus.

Among detainees are 17 police officers from a special operations unit, two non-commissioned officers, three lieutenants, seven journalists, and five union activists. One of the detainees in Sivas has been released.

Istanbul Acting Prosecutor Turan Çolakkadı said there might be more detentions based on documents and evidence discovered in the raids. "Searches are executed under court order. Prosecutors are immediately informed of the suspectb, who have the right to object to the court," Çolakkadı said.

The searches and confiscations were the subject of controversy due to the observance of procedural rules. Searches were undertaken in 30 locations in various cities, said Çolakkadı. The latest wave covered 13 cities, including Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Hakkari, Elazığ, Iğdır, and Hatay. "A supplementary indictment to the Ergenekon case is in its final stages and will be completed in a month," said Çolakkadı.

Meanwhile, Professor Yalçın Küçük and deputy leader of Independent Republic Party, or BCP, Engin Aydın, arrested in an earlier wave of Ergenekon detentions, were released yesterday.

The Ergenekon case aims to unveil and bring down an alleged ultra-nationalist gang that has conspired against the government in an attempt to provoke a coup. Prosecutors describe the alleged gang as a terrorist organization.

Opposition in uproar, major union prepares a summit
Union leaders, the main opposition Republican People’s Party and detainees’ relatives condemned the detentions as part of a suppression campaign.

"It is impossible to implicate any union in the Ergenekon case. The reason for the union’s existence is democracy itself," said President of the Turkish Confederation of Labor Unions, or TÜRK-İŞ Mustafa Kumlu. TÜRK-İŞ has decided to hold an extraordinary session to assess the aftermath of Özbek’s detention and the Ergenekon case Monday. Road Workers’ Union President Ramazan Ağar also visited Özbek’s house. "We are in a time when being a Turk in Turkey is a crime," said Mustafa Özbek’s son, Haydar Özbek.

VERSO’s owner Göksel told reporters before he was taken to a police station, "Ramazan Akyürek is my greatest enemy." Akyürek is Istanbul Police’s Intelligence unit chief and is implicated in the murder of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink by the Workers’ Party, or İP leader, Doğu Perinçek. Perinçek, under arrest in the Ergenekon case, claimed in 2007 that Akyürek was an Islamist and associated with religious community chief Fethullah Gülen.

A member of the directors’ board of the Security and Judiciary Reporters Association, Mehmet Balıkçıoğlu, said 50,000 books and 200,000 documents had been seized in the searches. Most of the books were about Turkey’s founder Atatürk, he said.

"The trade unions have been silenced and media organizations have been intimidated," said the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, spokesman Mustafa Özyürek. "Turkey is fast becoming an empire of fear," he said.

Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin said he could not meddle in the judiciary’s affairs as a minister. Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan urged restraint.