Ex-Anti-terror General Charged with Coup Attempt

Retired Major General Veli Kücük, nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, lawyer Fuat Turgut, who is the defense lawyer of Yasin Hayal, a murder suspect in the Hrant Dink case, Aksam newspaper journalist Güler Kömürcü, retired Colonel Fikri Karadag, who is the leader of the ultra-nationalist Kuvayi Milliye Association, and Turkish Orthodox Patriarchy spokesperson Sevgi Erenerol, are under police custody. 

All 33 taken from their homes on Tuesday (22 January) are charged with forming a clandestine group to plot against the government, and attempts at the lives of Kurdish politicians, as well as storing weapons in a secret arsenal.

Immediate broadcasting and publication ban 

According to the NTV news, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution made a written statement about the detentions and then immediately announced a broadcasting and publishing ban on the case.

The detained persons underwent a medical check-up and were then taken to the Anti-Terrorism Branch for questioning. The house of Veli Kücük in a village in Bilecik, Western Anatolia, was searched.

According to the CNN Türk news, those taken into custody are being questioned for “obtaining secret state information, disclosing secret state information, and taking part in the creation of a terrorist organisation.”

The Radikal newspaper today reports that 40 homes in Istanbul, Bursa and Izmir were searched by the police.  The newspaper also adds that the current investigation may shed light on the attack on the State Council in Ankara in 2006, in which one judge was killed and four wounded, bomb attakcs on the Cumhuriyet newspaper, in which bombs of the same series as found in the arsenal were used, as well as the Hrant Dink murder. 

Nationalist connections and the "Deep State" 

Fourteen people had been arrested previously, including retired military captain Muzaffer Tekin and writer Ergün Poyraz. Tekin has been alleged to have been involved in the planning of the attack on the State Council.

Lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, known for causing the trials of writers like Orhan Pamuk and Elif Shafak under Article 301 and for attempting to become a third-party plaintiff in the trial against Hrant Dink, was the defense lawyer for Tekin and Poyraz.

Veli Kücük’s name is linked to the notorious Susurluk scandal which rocked Turkey in 1996 and revealed connections between politicians, the police and organised crime. The scandal did much to confirm the public skepticism that a "deep state" controlled the country. Kücük is also related with threats against Hrant Dink.

Minister of the Interior Besir Atalay said: “We are watching the developments. The prosecution has got everything under control. A statement will be made in Istanbul.” (TK/AG)