Minister: Chatty witness is key to Ergenekon trial

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Tuncay Güney, who is currently residing in Canada and whose testimony in 2001 is seen as the basis of the controversial Ergenekon investigation, is an important element of the trial, said Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Şahin late on Monday.

Speaking on a news program on Habertürk television channel, Şahin said the prosecutor in charge of the Ergenekon investigation has asked the ministry to contact Canadian authorities in order to question Güney. "We have approached our Foreign Ministry to facilitate the dialog," he said.

The Ergenekon case started after the discovery of 27 hand grenades in June 2007 in a shanty house in Istanbul's Ümraniye district that belonged to a retired, noncommissioned officer. The grenades were found to be the same ones used in the attacks on Cumhuriyet daily’s Istanbul office in 2006.

Findings have led to scores of detentions, putting more than 100 journalists, writers, gang leaders and politicians under interrogation in what turned into a terror investigation seeking to crack down on an alleged ultra-nationalist gang named Ergenekon, which sought to topple the government by staging a coup in 2009 by initially spreading chaos and mayhem. Ergenekon is originally a pre-Islamic Turkish saga that tells of Turks' re-emergence from defeat by trickery of their enemies under the guidance of a gray wolf.

Long list of past incidents sometimes linked to case
Earlier bombings of daily Cumhuriyet, the murder of Hrant Dink, the murder of the top judge of the Council of State and alleged plans for the assassination of high-profile figures in Turkish politics are sometimes associated with the case.

Weapons caches have been found in Ankara in the last two weeks after the former acting head of the police department’s anti-terror squad, İbrahim Şahin, was arrested as part of the case.

Güney continues to give statements to newspapers and appear on television news programs. The testimony he gave to the police in 2001 after he was caught trying to sell a stolen vehicle was released to the press last week. Many are questioning his reliability as a witness.

A police raid on Güney’s house and office in 2001 revealed a mass of documents that now make up the bulk of the Ergenekon case indictment. Güney allegedly worked for a special unit under the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, in the late 1990s. Both MİT and Güney deny working together.

Güney’s testimony was taken by then deputy chief of the police’s Organized Crime Unit, Ahmet İhtiyaroğlu. İhtiyaroğlu submitted a petition to the Istanbul prosecutor’s office Oct. 28 to inform the prosecutor of Güney’s 2001 testimony about Ergenekon. "Güney told us about Veli Küçük’s leadership and many murders we could not have solved," İhtiyaroğlu wrote.

Veli Küçük, a retired brigadier general, was arrested late last year for links to the alleged Ergenekon gang.

Widespread opposition to Güney appearing on TRT
The opposition and the president criticized Güney’s appearance on a news program on Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or TRT, on the same day his 2001 testimony was broadcast on most channels.

Justice Minister Şahin said what Güney said on TRT was approximately the same as what he said in 2001, adding that he didn’t really find it appropriate for Güney to appear on television for any amount of time because, "He is one of the important names in the case."

When asked about the leaks concerning the case, Şahin said he couldn’t comment about whether or not the police or the prosecutor’s office was leaking the information about the trial, adding that necessary measures were taken to stop it.

Even before the indictment of the case was made public, there were many reports about what the case involved. The opposition criticized leaks as the government’s efforts to silence the government’s critics.

Most of the suspects in the case are known for their vocal opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government.

Şahin also said the reports of illegal wiretaps, made by the opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, was impossible, noting that wiretaps made without the necessary court order were inadmissible in any trial.

He said if anyone believed they were being wiretapped illegally, all ministry officials, including himself, were ready to support them to the full extent of the law.