Ergenekon investigation

In its annual report, Human Rights Watch has conceded that there are doubts about the independence of the Turkish judiciary; nevertheless, the Ergenekon trial is considered an opportunity to fight against unwanted military and state interference in political life.

Dink family lawyer Ergin Cinmen has called for an investigation into the links between the Ergenekon organisation and the murders of Hrant Dink, Andrea Santoro and three Christians in Malatya.

Up to now, five weapons caches have been found in the Ergenekon investigation, but their sources have not been declared. The General Staff remains silent.

Following the statement of former special operations police officer Şahin, lawyer Tanrikulu has called for a special parliamentary committee, as “a prosecutor’s investigations are not enough to face up to Turkey’s past.”

The tenth wave of detentions has been followed by some arrests and some releases.

The 3rd High Criminal Court of Malatya is questioning the possibility of connection between the Ergenekon case and the Malatya massacre of the three Protestants. The court will also question the possibility of police neglect.

Four more people have been taken into custody in connection with the Ergenekon case. The third hearing of the trial will be held today.

The Ergenekon court rejected the recusation demand by the defense lawyers regarding Judge Sedat Sami Haşıoğlu.

The 13th High Criminal Court of Istanbul begins to try the Ergenekon case with 86 suspects, 46 of them in prison, at Silivri near Istanbul. Veli Küçük, İlhan Selçuk, Kemal Alemdaroğlu, Sedat Peker and Doğu Perinçek are among the accused.

The first hearing started with recess because of the lack of space to accommodate all the people who wanted to be in the court room. The first hearing consisted of jurisdictional pleas and motions to join the trial.

Lawyer Elçi files a petition with the Diyarbakır court to have the cases of the Gendarmerie Intelligence And Anti Terror Unit (JİTEM) in Diyarbakır and the Ergenekon in Istanbul combined.

Journalist Tuncay Özkan, former owner of the TV channel Kanaltürk, and former Esenyurt Mayor Gürbüz Çapan were taken into custody this morning for the Ergenekon investigation.

Şener Eruygur, one of the retired generals arrested for the Ergenekon operation, under intensive care since last week, is released for health problems. The lieutenants and the military student are arrested. Temiz, İdiz and Soylu are released, too.

Retired military judge Ümit Kardaş believes that taking five lieutenants into custody is not enough. He thinks the operation needs to go higher.

The number of those taken into custody in the latest wave of operations for the Ergenekon investigation becomes seventeen. Among them are five lieutenants and one military student, too.

Eleven people have been taken into custody in Ankara and Istanbul in connection with the Ergenekon investigation. Nurseli İdiz, Seyhan Soylu and Levent Temiz, who had threatened Hrant Dink, were among those taken into custody.

Ministry of Justice has announced that an investigation against the prosecutors of the Ergenekon investigation is launched. Suspects Tekin, Poyraz, Kerinçsiz and Perinçek filed the complaint.

The personal organizer found in Ergenekon’s major suspect Veli Küçük’s house includes notes about making money from truck convoys to Iraq, intelligence report about PKK’s Öcalan and a need list with a gun with silencer on it.

Ergenekon suspect Veli Küçük’s personal organizer includes interesting notes about Major Ahmet Cem Ersever’s murder, but no questions have been asked him about them.

Science Education Esthetic Culture Art Researches Foundation (BEKSAV) launches a two day activity called “Ergenekon Valley”, which intends to shed light on past and not so past massacres, pogroms, murders of intellectuals in Turkey's past by using various art techniques.