In the indictment on the Support for Modern Life Association (ÇYDD), the ultra-secularist organization stands accused of 'discrimination' based on scholarships allocated to students in the east and south-east of the country.
The prosecutors of the Ergenekon trial pointed out that by granting scholarships to poor Kurdish students in the eastern and south-eastern part of the country the association acted discriminative because 'only students from this region received support'. The prosecutors addressed the Beyoğlu (Istanbul) Public Prosecution to launch an investigation into the organization.
Additionally, the prosecutors claimed that 30 names of the more than ten thousand scholarship holders were mentioned in the context of protest actions and demonstrations according to records of the Anti-Terror Branch. The full personal details of all these students are included in the indictment, without specifying whether they are suspects or defendants.
Indictment forwarded to lawyers
The indictment regarding eight members and executives of the ÇYDD and the Contemporary Education Foundation (ÇEV) was now forwarded to the defence lawyers. The indictment was prepared within the scope of the Ergenekon investigation into the clandestine ultra-national Ergenekon organisation nested within the state and the military and said to have planned to to create chaos in the country with murders and attacks with the ultimate aim to overthrow the government.
The indictment was accepted by the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court. The court announced that documents were seized which reveal connections of both educational associations with terrorist organizations. The court furthermore obtained files opened on several people for the police.
Records kept on ÇYDD members
According to the indictment, the hard disk seized in a search of the ÇYDD Kadıköy (Istanbul) Branch contained the names and ID numbers of 10,774 people under the heading "ÇYDD members" in an Excel file called "ALL".
The list comprised further details about the members and their families such as their field of work like "politics, high judiciary, military, MİT [National Intelligence Agency], university, private sector, media". Also ranks and duties were mentioned.
Starting from 3,527th position, the same list included additional notes on the ÇYDD members or their families such as "separatist-destructive activities", "organized" or "PKK" (militant Kurdistan Workers Party). It was also written which crime was allegedly committed by these persons and with which terrorist organization they were co-operating.
Another Excel file called "ORGANIZATION_ÇYDD.xls" gave information on the criminal records related to illegal organizations of 560 association members.
The file "JUDICIARY_ÇYDD.xls" listed 1,398 names, these people's ID numbers and private information. Some names were annotated with short comments like "Judge of the Supreme Court with connections to TİKKO [the Turkish Workers' Peasants' Liberation Army]" and "Investigating Judge of the Supreme Court with connections to the DHKP-C [Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People].
Keeping records of TSK members and military personnel
In a file called "NEW", 37 members of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) were specified with their names and ranks. According to the indictment, the names of their acquainted ÇYDD members were listed as well.
The file "LISTE_STATEMENT.xls" revealed personal information on students of the military schools as well as information about the ÇYDD member or the military personnel who gave a reference for the student. It was written which schools the students visited previously, each family's religion and ethnic origin and their financial situation.
"Starfish project actually aimed at naval forces"
The indictment claims that the education and culture project "Starfish" launched by the ÇYDD for university students actually was a project aimed at certain military officers related to the military school and the Naval Forces Command.
The indictment puts forward that the "Starfish" project was aimed at leaking into the TSK and forming a team there.
"30 PKK members got scholarships"
The indictment also states that both the ÇYDD and the ÇEV granted scholarships to PKK members. 30 names are being listed including the legal procedures on the charges pressed against them.
"Gendarmerie also documented Ergenekon relations"
According to the indictment, also the gendarmerie intelligence unit discovered the connection between the ÇEV and the PKK. Nevertheless, Ergenekon defendant and former Gendarmerie General Commander Şener Eruygur and the other Ergenekon executives continued their relations to Gülseven Yaşer, the president of the ÇEV.
The indictment puts forward that a document seized from Eruygur included reports from the gendarmerie on ÇEV. In the report, the gendarmerie intelligence units confirm that "Yaşer and ÇEV allocated scholarships to PKK-KADEK members" and that "organizational documents related to the PKK and books of [imprisoned PKK leader] Abdullah Öcalan were found in a search of the foundation". (BB)
* This news is based on several Turkish national dailies.
