Case of State Council Attack Merged with Ergenekon Trial

The Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court has decided to merge the State Council case, which also includes the attacks on the Cumhuriyet newspaper, with the Ergenekon trial.

Unrest in court

Suspect Alparslan Arslan, the defendant accused of shooting a judge and wounding others in the attack on 17 May 2007, was taken out of the court room because he shouted. When defendant Osman Yıldırım attacked other defendants verbally and physically, there were scuffles in court.

According to Ntvmsnbc.com, public prosecutor Kubilay Taştan had said that there were real and legal connections between the attack and the Ergenekon trial, which has been going on in Istanbul since 20 October 2008.

Taştan demanded that the detained suspects be further detained.

Er: Attack because of headscarf

While the Supreme Court of Appeals had previously decreed that there was a relation between the State Council attack and the Ergenekon organisation, Sali Er, president of the State Council's 5th Chamber, told the Radikal newspaper that the attack had come shortly after the court's decision on the headscarf. He recalled that Prime Minister Erdoğan had said to the State Council, "This is not your concern, it is the concern of the Directorate of Religious Affairs."

At the hearing in the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court on Monday (18 May), detained suspects Alparslan Arslan, Erhan Timuroğlu, Süleyman Esen, Osman Yıldırım, İsmail Sağır ve Tekin İrşi, as well as defense and prosecution lawyers were present.

Hüseyin Avni Karabeyoğlu, lawyer for the relatives of judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin who was killed in the attack, said that if there was a connection, the cases should be merged.

At the end of the hearing, the court announced that it had decided to merge the cases. This means that the State Council attack will also be considered in Istanbul. (EÖ/AG)