Drama endures, no finale in sight for Turkey's Ergenekon case

By Özgür Öğret [Hürriyet Daily News]

As the Ergenekon case marks its third year of arrests and indictments, it remains to be seen whether the ongoing investigation will help Turkey leave behind shadowy 'deep state' allegations or further embroil the country in a power struggle between the ruling party and its critics. The Daily News looks back at key events and figures and what it all may mean
Drama endures, no finale in sight for Turkey's Ergenekon case

It had all the makings of a political drama that would go down in history: secret caches of weapons, dead-of-the-night arrests and an alleged coup conspiracy featuring gang leaders uniting with top military and business figures.

But three years since the discovery of 27 hand grenades in an Istanbul neighborhood marked the start of the Ergenekon story, the ongoing case has dulled into wave after wave of seemingly indistinguishable arrests, indictments and documents. With more than 200 figures now detained in connection with the alleged ultranationalist, shadowy gang, is Turkey any closer to the truth?

The case is “moving further and further away from reality” in its third year, according to journalist Gareth Jenkins, whose report “Between Fact and Fantasy: Turkey's Ergenekon Investigation” criticizes the case from day one. Ergenekon, Jenkins said, is “quickly becoming a major embarrassment for the legal system although its supporters consider it a great achievement.”

When asked if he can foresee an end to the investigation, Jenkins said, “When you look at it objectively, [the case] is going to collapse eventually.”

Oral Çalışlar, a columnist for daily Radikal, disagreed, saying the case has “reached its goal” by most counts and is only progressing slowly because so many suspects are involved. “As far as I can see, this case [was opened] to prevent a coup ... [and] many people who were allegedly going to take part in the coup are now under arrest or under judicial surveillance so they cannot carry it out,” Çalışlar said. “I believe this case has made a positive contribution to the democratization process of Turkey and the preventing of coups.”

The main debate around the case has centered on whether it is a valiant effort to take down the “deep state” – a nebulous collection of security personnel, mafia figures, members of Cold War-era Gladio “stay-behind” networks and secularist elites who act for their own benefit, independently of whatever government is in charge – or simply a Justice and Development Party, or AKP, hoax that the ruling party has concocted to silence its opposition.

Detractors say attempts to close the AKP for “anti-secular activities” and other judicial and military pressures have led the ruling party to embark on a campaign against the opposition. And as time passes, even the case's heartiest supporters are beginning to wonder why many civilians languish in jail without a conviction when the alleged military masterminds of the coup remain free.

“Ergenekon is a case about democratizing the state versus purging [it of corruption] for me, but the arrests take the legitimacy away from it,” said lawyer Mücteba Kılıç, the president of the Taraf Readers Association, adding that it is routine for the Turkish judiciary to arrest every suspect and then release those who are found innocent. According to Kılıç, the case has not reached every wing of the Ergenekon gang. “They could not reach everyone; people who have publicly committed crimes are still out [there],” he said.

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Also from Hürriyet: Ergenekon prosecutor may face investigation

A local administrative court in Ankara has annulled the Justice Ministry's decision not to open an investigation against the public prosecutor who initiated the Ergenekon case, news agencies reported Friday.

Lawyer Turgut Kazan had applied to the Justice Ministry to start an investigation against prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, accusing him of causing great fear and worry in society by ordering unlawful arrests and searches as part of the ongoing Ergenekon investigation. The Justice Ministry did not respond to Kazan's request within 60 days, essentially rejecting it.

The lawyer then opened a case against the ministry, which will have to reassess its procedure following the local court's annulment decision.

Kazan is also the lawyer for İlhan Cihaner, the arrested chief public prosecutor of the eastern province of Erzincan, who is accused of being a member of the alleged Ergenekon gang's Erzincan branch.