Başbuğ may skip hearings

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Former Chief of Staff İlker Başbuğ has reportedly said he will not sit in the dock as a defendant with “gang members and killers,” and may even boycott the Ergenekon hearings, according to reports.

The Internet Memorandum case, in which Başbuğ is currently under arrest as a suspect, has been merged with the “Ergenekon gang” case, an alleged coup plot aimed at toppling the government by fomenting chaos in society. Among the suspects in the Ergenekon case are alleged gang leader Sedat Peker and Alparslan Arslan, who was caught red handed at the scene of a murder at the Council of State and confessed to the crime of having shot and killed judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin on May 17, 2006.

Turkey’s former top general also said he would not attend the other hearings thereafter, daily Vatan reported yesterday.